Traders are preparing for a spike in borrowing from Persian Gulf nations as the region’s oil exporters seek financing to build costly bypasses around the Strait of Hormuz.
With the Iran war entering its sixth month, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are looking to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure less vulnerable to Iranian attacks than the Hormuz waterway. Alternatives to the strait — which channels the vast majority of regional energy exports — could include new ports on the Red Sea or the Gulf of Oman, rehabilitating ageing pipelines and upgrading desert road networks.
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Bond sales from the region are at a record $112 billion this year, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. Debt offices from some of these nations are holding talks with bankers and investors on issuing even more debt for the infrastructure buildout, people familiar with those discussions told Bloomberg.
“We have clearly seen interest to diversify from using the Strait of Hormuz, which is a bottleneck at the end of the day,” said Sergei Strigo, head of emerging-markets fixed income at Amundi SA, Europe’s largest bond investor.
