The Central Bank of Bahrain has mandated three international banks to lead an international sukuk (Islamic bond) issue, expected to be around $1bn.

France’s BNP Paribas, the US’ Citigroup and the UK’s Standard Chartered have been appointed to run the sovereign bond deal.

Bahrain had planned to issue a conventional bond of a similar size earlier this year, but cancelled those plans as a result of the unrest in the country which started on 14 February.