Mubadala says Abu Dhabi is easily raising finance

Abu Dhabi's annual inflation rate has fallen to below 4 percent, an Abu Dhabi economy official on Monday told an investment forum.

"We've seen the inflation rate really dip, we are talking about sub-4 percent, give or take, in Abu Dhabi today," Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, director general of the council for economic development, told an Abu Dhabi investment forum.

Gulf Arab real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to rise by a modest 0.7 percent this year and a more robust 5.2 percent next year, the International Monetary Fund said last week.

Abu Dhabi has become a focus of attention for investors as they grow increasingly concerned about the economy and financing needs of neighbouring Dubai.

Members of a capital markets panel told investors at the forum that Abu Dhabi issuers had launched more than $12 billion in international debt this year, and issues were on average five times oversubscribed.

"You have seen some really successful issuance from Abu Dhabi," Matthew Hurn, executive director, group treasury at Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala, told the panel. "Now we need to start looking at pushing the yield curve further out."

Mubadala tapped international bond markets this year with a $1.75 billion five- and 10-year bond.

Mubadala was not planning any further international bonds this year, Hurn told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference, but did not rule out future issues.

"We are strongly committed to the capital markets, we are looking at various pools of liquidity."

Local debt and sukuk issues were among the pools of liquidity potentially on offer, he said.

Mubadala is a wholly owned investment vehicle for the government of Abu Dhabi.

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM