Dubai may use sovereign fund to repay debt

Dubai may use sovereign fund to repay debt

Dubai could use the $3.8 billion raised by its sovereign wealth fund to pay for its debts, as Dubai entities still have about $10 billion due next year.

December 6, 2011 3:46 by Reuters

…premium on the bonds to reflect the potential risks associated with timely and full repayment.

Jafza’s 7.5 billion dirham ($2 billion) 2.991 percent sukuk, or Islamic bond, maturing next November was yielding 11.996 percent on Tuesday, up from 10.3 percent about a month ago.

DIFCI’s $1.25 billion 0.713 percent sukuk rallied slightly on Tuesday, but the yield has risen over 3 percent on the bonds since the beginning of November.

“We believe it is DIFCI that is most likely to rely on direct government support in conjunction with refinancing its maturing debt obligations in 2012,” ratings agency Moody’s said on Tuesday, noting the Dubai government is directly exposed to DIFCI, which runs the city’s financial freezone, having given it two loans.

The cost to insure 5-year Dubai debt at 415 basis points (bps), was little changed from Monday’s close, according to Markit data. (By Amran Abocar and Mirna Sleiman; Additional reporting by Rachna Uppal, Editing by Sitaraman Shankar)

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Tags: debt, DHCOG, DIFC, DIFCI, Dubai, Dubai Holding, ICD, Investment Corporate of Dubai, JAFZA, jebel ali free zone, refinancing, sovereign, SWF, UAE, wealth fund