Quick Take:
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Total ME Issuance Surge: Year-to-date funding is up 52% YoY, reaching nearly USD 165bn.
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Demand Multiples: High-quality benchmarks like Saudi Aramco (3y) saw oversubscription as high as 11x.
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Pricing Floors: Abu Dhabi set the regional floor with a 3.75% coupon (5y).
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The "Saturday Shift": Following the escalation of tensions on Saturday, 28th Feb, primary market issuance has effectively hit "pause."
Heightened ME Tensions Interrupt Record Issuance: USD165bn YTD
Amid heightened tensions in the region, the market has begun to more seriously consider the risk premia it demands for new Middle Eastern issues. Using the Benchmark Monitor Tool — setting the Issuer Region field to = Middle East and filtering the title field for the term "excess" — we analysed the primary market dynamics below. This interactive tool captures all published syndicated benchmarks, providing real-time visibility into orderbook builds and pricing compression.
USD 56bn Year-on-Year ME Increase Driven by Qatar
Of the almost USD165bn issued by Middle Eastern borrowers between 1 January and 3 March 2026, about USD26bn have been benchmark transactions. On the macro-level, overall year-to-date issuance is considerably up, with total early-year funding from the region increasing by [...]