Middle East borrowers have shrugged off the crisis in the euro zone, nearly doubling their debt issuance in the first half of 2012 amid a surge in Islamic bonds from oil-rich Saudi Arabia and as Dubai continued to refinance some of its indebted state companies.
Debt issuance rose to $24.3 billion in the first six months compared with $12.6 billion in the same period last year, figures from the data provider Dealogic show. About half of the region's issuance was in Islamic bonds, as the number of Shariah-compliant deals more than tripled compared with last year.
The uptick in borrowing coincides with geopolitical instability in some parts of the Middle East and as European banks scale down their presence in the region due to the euro zone crisis and to meet more stringent capital demands at home.
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