Bank Muscat is getting closer to finalising a syndicated debt facility to refinance an existing $600m loan maturing next month, sources aware of the matter said.

The lender, which had asked banks to submit proposals to help it with a debt facility without specifying the exact size, is working with several regional and international banks. However, the sources added that the Bank Muscat will likely raise the entire $600m to cover the imminent maturity and the transaction is expected to be completed within weeks.

A spokesman for Bank Muscat declined to comment on the details of the refinancing deal.

Earlier reports by news agency Reuters suggested that loan raised in 2014 offered an all-in pricing per annum of 140 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and the new financing may offer around 185 bps.

Bank ABC, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citigroup, Commerzbank, HSBC, Mizuho, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and Wells Fargo were the banks involved in 2014 financing deal, according to the report.

Bank Muscat, one of the top lenders in the country, earlier in January reported a flat bottom-line for full-year 2016 with net income rising only 0.6 per cent to RO176.56m ($459.2m) compared to RO175.45m for the same period reported in 2015. The net profit was affected by a rise in operating expenses and a reduction in the share of income from associates, which stood at RO1.73m against RO2.56m for the same period in 2015., the lender said in a statement to Muscat Securities Market at the time.