The success of this innovative and pioneering combined offering, the first of its kind in the GCC, once again highlights the attractive investment opportunities and environment provided by Adnoc and, more broadly, Abu Dhabi and the UAE, said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, who is also Adnoc group chief executive and managing director. We were delighted to see exceptionally strong demand and a number of new world-class institutional investors participate in both the share offering and exchangeable bond offering, reinforcing the attractiveness of Adnoc Distribution and bringing new FDI into the UAE.
Adnoc Distribution is the UAE s biggest fuel retailer, with a total of 449 stations at the end of March and ambitious plans to extend its network both in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
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The rapid development of central bank digital currencies could help to boost financial inclusion and stability, but they pose a threat to banks and could weaken their ability to lend, according to a report by Fitch Ratings.
CBDCs would help to speed up cashless payments and could bring underbanked communities into the financial system in many emerging markets.
In the Bahamas, for instance, where the Sand Dollar CBDC was introduced in October, low-value CBDC transactions can be carried out using just a phone number or an email address for identification.
“The deployment of CBDCs will create opportunities to strengthen financial system inclusion, innovation, resilience and efficiency, but may also give rise to new risks,” said Monsur Hussain, an analyst at Fitch Ratings and co-author of the report.