State-owned National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' top bank by market value, is also meeting investors in Europe this week, IFR Markets reported.

"It is a non-deal roadshow, a regular update we have been doing in the last two years, meeting investors," the official at Abu Dhabi's debt management office told Reuters on Tuesday.

The official, who declined to be named, said there would be no sovereign bond issues soon after the government roadshows.

Abu Dhabi's move follows that of its neighbor Dubai, whose finance chief told Reuters last month the emirate would keep options open for a potential bond issue later this year but was not under pressure to do so.

Abu Dhabi, which accounts for nearly all of UAE's oil wealth, has not outlined any bond issues in its 2010 budget despite a planned deficit.

Analysts said the government's presentations indicated it might be willing to come to the market over the next few months, while any Abu Dhabi issue was likely to draw large demand.

"Abu Dhabi is signaling it intends to come to market more often," said Mohieddine Kronfol, managing director at Dubai-based Algebra Capital. "Benchmark issues in the order of $500 million to $1 billion are likely in the coming months."

The Gulf Arab emirate, rated 'AA', last tapped the markets in April 2009, selling $3 billion worth of sovereign debt.

The official said the government roadshows would be held in Switzerland, Germany and Britain, but declined to name banks organizing the investor presentations.

RBS was named by two bankers as working with Abu Dhabi, although officials at the bank denied any knowledge of the meetings, said IFR Markets, a unit of Thomson Reuters.

Abu Dhabi had been the focus of attention as it prepared a series of roadshows earlier this year. The emirate has set up its debt management office to co-ordinate issuance among the government and its entities.

"Appetite will be very good, and this would be a step in the right direction. A lot of local institutions are looking for local currency-denominated bond issues at the moment," said Boutros Klink, head of local currency fixed income trading MENA, Pakistan and Turkey at Standard Chartered in Dubai.

Separately, National Bank of Abu Dhabi's (NBAD) non-deal roadshow started in Vienna on Tuesday, IFR Markets said, and will continue in Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. The presentations, arranged by Societe Generale and UBS, follow July meetings in Australia.

NBAD, rated 'A plus' by Standard & Poor's, has already issued a $750 million bond and a 500 million Malaysian ringgit ($160 million) Islamic bond this year.

The yield on Abu Dhabi's bond maturing in April 2014 was quoted at 2.171 percent on Tuesday, down from November 2009 levels of around 4.6 percent following Dubai's debt crisis. NBAD's paper, due in September 2014, was at 3.154 percent.

The Abu Dhabi government paper's spread against benchmark US treasuries now stands at 136.1 basis points.

Abu Dhabi plans to run a budget deficit for the second consecutive year in 2010, following its financial support to the fellow emirate of Dubai. It expects to finance its planned 2010 gap of 84.9 billion dirhams ($23.1 billion) through transfers from its sovereign wealth funds.