April and May looked to be banner months for sukuk. Two deals, one from the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and the other, from Banque Saudi Fransi, the Saudi lender part-owned by Credit Agricole, marked two rare but popular US dollar denominated issues which were highly prized by investors. The benchmark deals helped underscore growing investor appetite for Islamic bonds.
Saudi Fransi, Saudi Arabia’s fifth largest bank, launched $750m five-year Islamic bond mid-month at par amid strong investor demand for the issue in mid-May. The issue is the bank’s first sukuk sale under a recently-established $2bn debt programme.
The Islamic Development Bank plans to raise up to $1 billion by issuing a sukuk, a spokesman for the bank told Reuters on Wednesday.
Asked about media reports quoting IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali as saying the Jeddah-based multinational lender plans to raise between $500 million and $1 billion through a sukuk, the spokesman said: "That's true."
Islamic banking is expanding by an increasing number of segments of traditional banking. Microfinancing has become the next area of expansion of Islamic finance.
IDB Vice-President (Operations) Boubacar Sidibe stated that IDB will actively follow up the mandate to expand the Islamic microfinance industry and offered to support innovation and research in the field as a means to fighting poverty in IDB member countries. He urged to create a knowledge platform accessible to everyone.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) was formed in October 1975 to foster economic development and social progress of member countries in accordance with Islamic principles. It currently has 56 member countries, Nigeria being the most recent (in 2005) country to become a member. Gambo Shuaibu is an Executive Director at the bank as Nigeria's representative. In this interview, he said the bank plans to make cumulative investments worth $6 billion in Nigeria in the next three years.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) latest $75 million line of financing to Turkiye Finans Participation Bank, one of the four participation (Islamic) banks in Turkey and in which Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank has a controlling stake, underlines the proactive involvement of the multilateral development bank of the Muslim world in Turkey over the last three decades.
In a report issued today 29 September 2011, Standard & Poor's affirmed for the 10th consecutive year its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term credit ratings of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) with a Stable Outlook.
Standard & Poor's stated that the IDB's ratings are underpinned by strong shareholders' support, very high level of capital and liquidity and a good asset portfolio with preferred-creditor treatment and historically very low losses.
One of the positive outcomes of the 36th annual board of governors meeting held in Jeddah last month was the approval by the Board of Directors of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Export Credit and Investment (ICIEC), the standalone export credit and political risk insurance agency of the IDB Group, of the corporation's capital from the current $240 million to $640 million.
Behind the resolutions, the statements and the rhetoric of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) at the recent 36th Annual Meeting which was held in Jeddah on June 29-30, were some commendable suggestions from member countries aimed at speeding up the efficiency and effectiveness of the bank.
May 2011 was marked by a comeback of sukuk that are international, USD denominated, listed and GCC originated - a trend expected to persist through June, writes Adnan Halawi, Zawya's fixed income analyst As much as USD4.9 billion worth of sukuk were issued in May 2011, taking the total issued globally in the first five months of 2011 to an estimated USD37.8 billion, a 62% surge compared to USD14.2 billion during the same period last year, according to data compiled by Zawya Sukuk Monitor.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to increase its $3.5 billion sukuk program to as much as $8 billion and issue a sukuk bond worth $600 million by year-end, its Vice President Abdul Aziz Al-Hinai said.
He said $2.9 billion of the current program had been issued and the rest would be out by Dec. 31, adding that the IDB was studying how large the program would become.
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