Bahrain plans sovereign bond sale, although the issuance is unlikely to be imminent, government and banking sources said Wednesday. “Bahrain sent out RFPs (requests for proposals) earlier this week. There are no mandates yet but they seem to be very serious about tapping the market,” said a banker, who did not want to be identified. A senior government source told Reuters that the issuance was not imminent despite the requests to banks, adding that the country was a regular issuer and the political situation in the kingdom would not negatively influence investor appetite. “They tend to give out mandates and wait. There's no requirement to issue immediately,” another banker said. Last November, the kingdom drew $1.8 billion in demand for its $750 million, seven-year Islamic bond (sukuk), its first sovereign issue since March 2010, pricing it at a yield of 6.273 percent. The order book mainly went to Middle East investors. Bahrain had initially looked to sell a $1-billion conventional bond at the beginning of 2011, but postponed the plans due to turmoil. Five-year Bahrain credit default swaps, which reflect how investors assess the risk that a country will not be able to pay back its obligations, have been easing gradually this year to around 372 basis points Wednesday from a peak of 408 points at the end of January, according to Markit data. “I think perhaps this is a question of getting money in the bank while markets are reasonably decent,” said a London
