Saudi Arabia might issue new international bonds as soon as January, as part of plans to raise USD32bn worth of debt next year, a senior finance ministry official told Reuters. “We are very much ready, as early as the first of January, to issue our international bonds subject to market conditions of demand and supply,” Fahad al-Saif, who heads the kingdom’s debt management office (DMO), said in an interview. Of the total debt plans, almost USD12bn will be to refinance existing local debt, and will be done locally, Saif said. That leaves around USD20bn -worth of new funds that Riyadh plans to raise in the local and international markets, with the international debt accounting for 45% of the fundraising plans. “We’re assuming between SAR30bn and SAR35bn is going to be the international part of our issuance for the year,” Saif said.