Bahrain Mirror: Sources say Bahrain has raised $500m from a private placement of bonds with five regional banks, reported Arabian Business.

The site said that the bonds were placed with Bank ABC, Emirates NBD, Kuwait Finance House, Noor Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the details are private.

"They haven't released any details on the GCC rescue package, so they wouldn't have been able to issue publicly," said Anthony Simond, who helps manage $13 billion of emerging-market debt at London-based Aberdeen Asset Management.

Arabian Business further noted that this gives the island-kingdom much-needed relief as it negotiates crucial financial support with its Gulf Arab allies.

For Bahrain, the funds also give officials time to agree on the details of the aid package with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Bahrain's economy, the smallest in the Gulf Cooperation Council, has been hit hard by the slump in oil prices in 2014. With rising public debt and low foreign-exchange reserves, investors say the kingdom needs support to avert a currency devaluation that could reverberate across the region.

The talks are making progress on a multi-year program that would involve spending cuts and measures to increase non-oil revenue, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

The economic website also highlighted that the gulf kingdom scrapped plans to tap the international bond market in March, opting instead to raise $1 billion in Islamic debt.

Arabic Version