Orders for Abu Dhabi’s first bond sale of 2026 hit $11bn

The order book for Abu Dhabi’s two-tranche US dollar-denominated bond sale exceeded $11 billion, according to Reuters. 

The indicative prices for 5 and 10-year bonds, the first to be issued in 2026, were set at 50 and 55 basis points over US Treasuries, the news agency reported, citing the loan document.

The prices will be fixed later on Thursday.

The benchmark size is typically set at $500 million.

Last week, the UAE’s first seven-year dirham Islamic government bonds of AED550 million ($150 million) attracted orders worth six times the amount offered.

The GCC states, led by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, will be significant issuers in debt capital markets in 2026, Matein Khalid, an investor in global financial markets and board adviser to leading family offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, wrote in AGBI.

The UAE will borrow to maintain its diversification programme and to meet the high capex needs of its futuristic AI chip and biomedical industry ambitions, he said.

Fitch Ratings estimates that Gulf debt markets will exceed $1.2 trillion in outstanding bonds by year-end 2026. 

• Riyadh’s new bond issue attracts $31bn in orders
• Adnoc explores $2bn raise through Chinese ‘dim sum’ bonds
• Abu Dhabi’s quarterly GDP hits record $89bn

Abu Dhabi’s economy expanded in the third quarter of 2025, underpinned by growth momentum in non-oil activities, AGBI reported earlier this month.

The emirate’s GDP grew by 7.7 percent year on year between July and September, reaching a record quarterly value of AED326 billion ($88.8 billion), the state-run Wam news agency reported, quoting the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi.

The construction sector was one of the strongest performers, growing by 14 percent year on year and adding AED31 billion to GDP.

The financial and insurance sector grew by 8.5 percent, contributing AED21 billion to the GDP.

The real estate sector rose by 13 percent, adding AED12.1 billion to the economy.