(Adds context throughout)
By Yousef Saba and Alasdair Pal
DUBAI, March 22 (Reuters) - The government of the Maldives
has hired a group of banks to arrange a U.S. dollar-denominated
issuance of benchmark sukuk, or Islamic bonds, a document showed
on Monday, as the country continues to diversify its borrowing
away from China.
Acting through the finance ministry, the government hired
the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private
Sector (ICD), Credit Suisse, Emirates NBD Capital
and HSBC to arrange a fixed income investor
call, the document from one of the banks showed.
Meetings between the parties started on Monday and an
issuance of benchmark five-year senior unsecured sukuk will
follow, subject to market conditions. Benchmark bonds are
generally at least $500 million in size.
Moody's said on Monday it was assigning the planned issuance
a B3 rating.
A spokesman for the Maldives' finance ministry did not
immediately respond to requests for comment on the bond sale.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been attempting to wean
the Maldives off Chinese debt, following a Beijing-backed
infrastructure boom under the previous government that alarmed
the United States and traditional ally India.
On taking power in 2019 Solih's party admitted it had no
idea of the true size of its debts to China, pledging to improve
transparency around its borrowings.
The island archipelago's former president Abdulla Yameen was
later sentenced to five years in jail for graft, though he
denies the charges.
On Monday the government also announced a tender offer for
its outstanding $250 million 7% notes due next year, which it is
offering to purchase for cash.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba in Dubai and Alasdair Pal in New
Delhi; Editing by Devika Syamnath)