LONDON: Fears that turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa could spread pushed up the cost of insuring sovereign debt issued by Middle Eastern governments against default Wednesday, according to data provider Markit. The spread on five-year Saudi Arabian credit default swaps, or CDS, widened to 143 basis points from 136 basis points. That means it would now cost $143,000 a year to insure $10 million of Saudi government debt against default for five years, up $7,000. The spread on Bahrain CDS widened 12 basis points to 313, while Lebanon widened 9 basis points to 365 and Qatar widened 4 basis points to 119.
