Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center (NDMC) announced the closure of its March 2025 riyal-denominated sukuk issuance, raising SAR 2.64 billion ($704 million).
This issuance brings the total sukuk allocations for the year to SAR 9.43 billion, following SAR 3.07 billion in February and SAR 3.72 billion in January.
Sukuk, compliant with Shariah principles, offer investors partial ownership in an issuer’s assets. Saudi Arabia has been leveraging sukuk to finance projects under its Vision 2030 economic diversification plan.
The global sukuk market is projected to reach between $190 billion and $200 billion in 2025, driven by increased activity in key markets such as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Notably, foreign currency-denominated sukuk issuance saw a 29% year-on-year increase in 2024, totaling $72.7 billion.
Fitch Ratings anticipates that the global outstanding sukuk will surpass $1 trillion in 2025, solidifying its role in the debt capital markets of Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries and emerging markets.
Saudi Arabia continues to lead the Gulf Cooperation Council in bond and sukuk issuances, raising $79.5 billion across 79 issuances in 2024, accounting for 53.7% of the region’s total primary debt issuances.
The Kingdom’s consistent engagement in the sukuk market underscores its strategic reliance on debt instruments to support its economic transformation agenda.
