Saudi launches primary dealer scheme with 3.5 bln riyal sukuk issue | Reuters

Saudi launches primary dealer scheme with 3.5 bln riyal sukuk issue | Reuters:

Saudi Arabia has begun selling local currency government bonds through a new “primary dealer” scheme designed to increase demand for the debt and widen the range of investors holding it, the Ministry of Finance said.

The ministry’s Debt Management Office issued 3.5 billion riyals ($925 million) of five-, seven- and 10-year Islamic bonds under the system this week in its monthly auction, the ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Five local banks — Alinma Bank, Bank Aljazira , Samba Financial Group, National Commercial Bank and Saudi British Bank — for the first time acted as primary dealers, buying the sukuk directly from the government and then immediately making a market in them by quoting two-way prices to other investors.