Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) sold $4 billion of bonds on Wednesday in a sale that was four times oversubscribed.
It marks the latest big Saudi debt sale this year, coming just two weeks after the kingdom raised $12 billion from a sovereign bond sale that was three times oversubscribed.
On January 6 PIF announced it had raised an additional $7 billion to finance future investments.
The bonds sold on Wednesday were reportedly issued with maturities of five years and nine-and-a-half years, with respective credit spreads 95 and 110 basis points above US Treasury bonds, roughly in line with the sovereign bonds sold earlier this month.
The bonds had been initially priced at 125 and 140 basis points above US Treasuries, but the spreads tightened after orders topped $16 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a borrowing spree as the government and private institutions tap global capital markets to fund Vision 2030 projects.
On January 5 the Finance Ministry issued a statement saying it had approved a budget including SAR139 billion ($37 billion) of borrowing in 2025.
It comes at a time of demand for emerging market debt, particularly following the rise of the “Trump trade”, referring to market fears that the new president will bring with him higher tariffs, higher inflation and higher interest rates.
Investors looking to diversify their assets have turned to emerging market sovereigns and companies, which issued more than $55 billion of debt in the first two weeks of 2025. Saudi Arabia, with its large oil reserves, is seen as one of the less risky emerging market debt issuers.
“This is an opportunity to pick up a quality yield at a reasonable price,” said Karim Henide, a London-based portfolio manager.
“If you’re a local emerging market investor and you believe in the Trump trade, that’s the trade. That’s the peak insulation trade.”
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