Dubai’s bond program plans to initially raise $1bn

The Dubai government’s conventional and Islamic bond program launched last week will probably raise an initial $1billion through an Islamic bond, Suresh Kumar, the head of Emirates NBD Capital said during the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

“My sense is it [the bond program] will be focused on the Islamic certificate program to raise possibly $1 billion to be used to meet the maturity of the DCA (Department of Civil Aviation) sukuk,” Kumar said. “The initial response has been very good. This is likely to be done over a period of time and the intention is not to take all the money it takes in the book … it has to be a benchmark.”

The government’s $6.5 billion bond program consists of $4 billion euro medium-term notes and a $2.5 billion Islamic bond program.