DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar’s Ahli Bank sold $500 million of five-year senior bonds at 125 basis points (bps) over mid-swaps, a document from one of the banks on the deal showed on Tuesday.

The spread was tightened from initial price guidance of around 150 basis points over mid-swaps after Ahli Bank received more than $1.35 billion in orders for the debt sale, the document showed.

Barclays, QNB Capital, JPMorgan Securities, Mizuho Securities and Standard Chartered arranged the deal.

The debt sale follows a $1 billion senior sukuk offering by Dubai Islamic Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ largest Islamic lender earlier this month.

There have been relatively few senior bond sales from banks in the region this year as liquidity levels are strong. Instead, there has been a steady stream of Additional Tier 1 bond issues as lenders look to boost their Tier 1 capital.

The hydrocarbon-rich Gulf economies plunged into recession last year hit by an historic oil price collapse and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the region is expected to return to growth this year.

Dubai’s largest listed property developer Emaar also raised $500 million on Tuesday through a sale of 10-year sukuk, or Islamic bonds.

Reporting by Yousef Saba Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Mark Potter

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