Qatar National Bank (QNB), the Middle East’s largest lender, has secured a $2.5 billion syndicated loan led by Asian financial institutions. The five-year facility, expanded from an initial $2 billion, attracted over 20 lenders and is priced at 75 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate. Proceeds will refinance a prior $2 billion facility from October 2023.
Mandated lead arrangers include DBS Bank, HSBC, ICBC, Mizuho Bank, and Standard Chartered. The deal underscores continued Asian appetite for Gulf financing despite regional conflict. It follows Qatar Energy’s recent $3 billion loan from Chinese banks, signaling a cautious return to the region after earlier pullbacks.
Syndicated loan volumes to the GCC have dropped to $82 billion this year, the lowest in five years. Qatar’s economy, heavily reliant on LNG exports, has been disrupted by Iranian strikes, including a March attack that disabled 17% of export capacity and caused an estimated $20 billion in damage. Despite this, QNB and the Qatari government have raised billions via bond markets since the conflict began.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing