Oman places $260m 5yr govt development bonds

The Gulf sultanate of Oman has placed 100 million rials ($260 million) in 5 year domestic development bonds, to be issued on July 26, carrying a coupon of four percent, a statement from the central bank showed on Tuesday.

Oman's central bank head said in March that the Gulf state would likely issue $316.9 million in domestic bonds to replace the same amount of debt maturing in November, but did not expect to tap international markets in 2010.

The government development bonds, maturing in July 2010 offfer an average yield of 2.37 percent, the central bank statement showed. Total bids reached $608.8 million, the central bank statement showed.

The sultanate's government has maintained a tight control of public debt in the past years. The non OPEC oil producer's debt fell to 5.6 pct of gross domestic product in 2009, from 34 percent in 1999.