1

1

E-mail Article

Printer Friendly

Share Article

Gulf sukuk to hit record levels in 2007

Moody's Investors Service anticipates record Islamic bond, or sukuk, issuance in the Gulf this year, it said on Tuesday.

In the global ratings agency’s latest report it states that issuance of corporate sukuk in the GCC has already hit $6.3 billion and looks set to comfortably surpass last year’s record issuance of more than $9 billion.
This figure has been helped by large bond sales by the likes of Dubai government owned DP World and the emirate’s Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

DP World, the world's third-largest container port handler, has sold $1.5 billion of bonds and DIFC $1.25 billion.

“Sukuk are a rapidly growing financial instrument used not only by Islamic issuers but also by non-Islamic issuers aiming to attract Shariah compliant investors," said Philipp Lotter, Dubai-based senior credit officer at Moody's and author of the report ‘Understanding Moody's Approach to Unsecured Corporate Sukuk’.

Globally sales of sukuk have also soared in the first half of 2007 to a record $24.5 billion, led by companies in the Gulf, as well as Malaysia, according to New York-based ISI Emerging Markets.

Sales are up 75% compared with the year-earlier period, according to ISI, which collates and produces information about emerging markets.

No Comments