Citigroup sees bond rebound as US$20b comes due in Middle East next year

Dubai

CITIGROUP Inc sees Middle East bond sales rebounding from their slowest start since 2012 as companies rush to lock in cheap interest rates before next year.

"We'll see good volumes in the Middle East for the rest of the year as people look to refinance maturities coming up in 2016 and take advantage of current rates," Iman Abdel Khalek, the bank's director of Middle East debt capital markets, said. "We'll probably end up with higher volumes than last year."