Saudi Arabia is yet to confirm if it wants to join the BRICS alliance and has kept the decision on hold for over a year. BRICS invited Saudi Arabia to join the bloc during the 2023 summit and the Kingdom is yet to accept the invitation and provide an answer. On the heels of deciding on BRICS, Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil giant Aramco has started issuing US dollar-denominated bonds.
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These bonds are solely aimed at institutional investors. The issuance is managed by leading US banks such as Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and SNB Capital, among others. Therefore, Saudi Arabia is working closely with the US institutional banks for the dollar-denominated bonds while pausing the BRICS invitation.
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BRICS: US Dollar Bonds Issued By Saudi Arabia’s Oil Giant Aramco
Aramco confirmed that the US dollar-denominated bonds will have a minimum subscription of $200,000 as the base offering price. The US dollar bonds from Saudi Arabia’s Aramco come at a time when BRICS kick-started the de-dollarization initiative. The development indicates that the Kingdom doesn’t want de-dollarization, as its economy thrives with the help of the US dollar.
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The US dollar-denominated bonds will begin issuance from July 9 to 17, 2024, and could be more than $12 billion. The joint bookrunners include Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, BofA Securities, and Emirates NBD Capital Limited, among others. These banks will work closely with the US institutional funds to process the US dollar bonds seamlessly. The move suggests that Saudi Arabia might reject the BRICS invitation as it wants the US dollar to flow into its economy.
However, Saudi Arabia has not officially confirmed if it wants to join BRICS or reject the invitation. We have to wait and watch for an official statement from the Kingdom on its decision to join the alliance.