Saudi Arabia issued €1.5bn ($1.8bn) of bonds to international investors on 24 February, part of which carried a negative interest rate (NIR). Finance minister and acting economy and planning minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan claimed it was the largest tranche of debt issued with a NIR outside the European Union. The debt was divided into a €1bn ($1.2bn) three-year tranche carrying a return of -0.06%, and a €500m, nine-year tranche with an interest rate of less than 1%, in deals handled by the National Debt Management Center, which said the round was more than three times over-subscribed; total orders amounted to more than €5bn.
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