Qatari Islamic lender Masraf Al Rayan has hired banks ahead of a potential sale of U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk, or Islamic bonds, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The planned deal - which would be Masraf’s first public debt sale - would follow last week’s international bond issues by Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar National Bank, as the Gulf state’s banks take advantage of improved market conditions to boost their finances.

The planned five-year sukuk will be of benchmark size, which generally means upwards of $500 million (£378.39 million), the sources added.

Masraf has hired a group of banks including Barclays and Standard Chartered to arrange the deal, said the sources.

Depending on market conditions, Masraf could sell the sukuk soon, potentially already this week, the sources said.

The debt issues followed a $12 billion jumbo bond sale by the Qatari government earlier this month – the largest emerging market sovereign debt sale this year – which provided a fresh pricing benchmark for Qatari borrowers.