Kuwait government officials will meet fixed income investors in the UK and US in March ahead of its debut sovereign bond, which could see the Gulf state raise as much as $9.5bn.

Meetings will take place in London, New York, Boston and Los Angeles between 5 March and 12 March, according to news agency Bloomberg, which cited an unidentified person familiar with the matter.

Kuwait has appointed six banks on the deal, which could be completed by the end of next month of early April. Citigroup, JPMorgan, and HSBC are working on the transactions as lead managers while Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered and NBK Capital are hired as advisers.

Kuwait is the latest among the six-member GCC states looking to tap the debt market as it seeks to bridge a fiscal deficit on the back of lower oil prices. Kuwait expects a budget deficit of KD7.9bn ($26bn) in financial year 2017-18, which is lower than KD9.7bn in 2016-17, its deputy Prime Minister Anas al-Saleh said last month. Kuwaiti officials in July said they will tap the international debt market for funds and could raise as much as $10bn.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer in the world the the region’s top economy in October raised more than 17bn in its record breaking debut bond. Qatar and Abu Dhabi are among the others who have issued multi-tranche bonds last year as well. The GCC member states in total have raised more than $48bn in sovereign bond sales in 2016, the most since at least 2007.

Kuwaiti officials will visit investors in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore between February 12 and February 17, earlier reports have suggested, citing government sources.