The Sultanate of Oman may issue an international sovereign bond as well as an Islamic bond next year. This was confirmed by the head of its central bank Hamood Sangour Al Zadjali.

He said it was still to early to provide details as to the volume of the bonds. This comment was in line with previous statements from government officials. It comes at a time where the Sultanate is facing pressure on its finances as total expenditure arises. Thus it is projected that the country would return to the international debt market for the first time since 1997.

According to Zadjali, as he was interviewed by Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab central bank governors in Abu Dhabi, "The planned sovereign bond is still in discussions. We could issue next year."

At the same breadth, Oman is deep in the planning for the development of its Islamic finance industry with a debut issue of sukuk by the government as its first step towards its fruition. Another plan is to have a domestic issue of government development bonds worth OMR100 million or USD260 million for the latter part of the year.