Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul announced the addition of the Saudi government sukuk market in the “i-Box” global government bond index of IHS Markit, the leading global provider of information and financial services, starting from January 31, 2022.
The iBooks Global Government Bond Index reflects the performance of sovereign debt instruments in the local currency of countries such as Saudi Arabia, which It ranks fifth in the rankings Investment grade credit rating, according to Moody’s.
The upgrade of the Saudi government sukuk market comes after the FTSE Russell Group’s decision to add Tadawul Saudi Arabia to the FTSE Government Bond Index in emerging markets in local currency, as of April 2022.
This announcement highlights the Kingdom’s efforts to develop and enhance the efficiency of the local debt market, diversify its investor base, and move it to the ranks of the leading global debt markets.
Over the past years, Saudi Tadawul has introduced a series of reforms aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the market and its infrastructure, enabling international investors to access the market, in addition to strengthening corporate governance and raising levels of transparency in line with the Financial Sector Development Program within the framework of Vision 2030 to advance the Saudi financial market.
In turn, the CEO of the Saudi Tadawul Company, Muhammad Al-Rumaih, said that the inclusion of the Kingdom’s sukuk in the global government index of sovereign entities is an important achievement and highlights the great stride that the Saudi Tadawul Group has made over the years to enhance the market infrastructure to meet the requirements of all investors.
Al-Rumaih added that international investors are aware of the improvements applied in the Saudi sukuk and bond market, as the debt markets have grown to reach 451,695 million riyals at the end of the third quarter of 2021, which reflects the activity of the government and its institutions to develop multiple sectors in the Kingdom.
Al-Rumaih stressed his pride in this important achievement, which will enhance the attractiveness of international investors to the Saudi financial market.
It is noteworthy that the Saudi Tadawul launched in 2020, two indices in cooperation with IHS Markit, which are: the iBooks Tadawul index for government sukuk in Saudi riyals, and the ibox Tadawul index for sukuk and government debt instruments in Saudi riyals, both of which provide a tool to follow the performance of Saudi sukuk and bonds for investors and market participants. .
