Qatar's recently issued $7 billion (Dh25.71bn) sovereign bond has been subscribed mostly by investors based in the US and the UK, said reports.

The bond, the largest emerging market sovereign debt issuance, currently boasts an order book of more than $27bn.

According to a report from the Middle East Economic Survey, 52 per cent of the bond was allocated to investors from the US, 23 per cent to those from the Middle East, 12 per cent to those from the UK, and nine per cent to those from Europe and four per cent from Asia.

The report came even as the debt capital markets activity from Middle East issuers totalled $38.6bn – a 120 per cent increase over the last year at this time – according to the recently published 'investment banking scorecard' of Thomson Reuters.

Market insiders say investors in the US and the UK have for long been looking for an exposure to Qatar's risks and the bond gave them a solid opportunity to do that.

"Qatar's risk appetite is strong. People are looking for an exposure to it. The country is confident over the fact that it has abundant gas resources," said Philippe Jouard, Chief Investment Officer at Q Invest, Qatar's largest investment bank.

The Qatari issue offered 185 basis points for the five-year bond, 195 basis points for the 10-year bond and 215 basis points for the 30-year bond.

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