The United Arab Emirates plans to issue its first sovereign bond to fund infrastructure and other spending, following issues by Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a senior finance ministry official said on Sunday.

 "A law will come out soon and it will specify where the debt must be spent. One (area)... is infrastructure," Younis Al-Khoori, director general at the ministry of finance told Reuters.

The government, the world's third-largest oil exporter, has not yet determined the timeframe or the size of the issue, Al-Khoori said.

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates including Abu Dhabi, the main oil producer in the Opec country, and regional trade and tourism hub Dubai.

Abu Dhabi raised $3 billion in late March as part of a $10 billion bond programme planned over the next two years for general government spending.

Dubai sold $10 billion of bonds to the UAE central bank in February and is planning to raise another $10 billion to support state-linked companies struggling to weather the financial crisis and a real estate slump.

The ministry of finance will handle the debut bond issue on behalf of the federal government and plans to appoint an advisor and seek a sovereign rating, Al-Khoori said.

States and corporates in the Gulf region, including Abu Dhabi, raised over $15 billion in bonds in the last four months and are eyeing more issues as spreads narrow and demand rises for high-rated emerging market debt. - Reuters