The government of Oman has borrowed USD1 billion as the Gulf country tries to cope with strains on its finances as oil prices plummet. The sultanate raised funds through a syndicated loan at 120 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), Nasser al-Jashmi, under-secretary at the ministry of finance, told Reuters on Thursday. Eleven banks took part in the five-year loan. Oman began seeking a five-year loan in November, offering 110 basis points over Libor. It had to raise that after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's debt and retained a negative outlook. "The untimely downgrade of Oman by Standard and Poor's to the brink of investment grade, just after the offering was launched, hurt sentiment towards the deal further," one of the bankers said. The 11 banks participating in the loan include Citigroup, Gulf International Bank and Natixis, who were the initial bookrunners for the transaction. The other banks are National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, JP Morgan, Credit Agricole, Standard Chartered and Europe Arab Bank. (Reuters)