AFP/Dubai
The Islamic sukuk or bond market is set to drop sharply this year after Malaysia’s central bank, one of the largest global issuers, stopped doing so, Standard & Poor’s said yesterday.
“In the first half of 2015, the Central Bank of Malaysia’s pullback saw total sukuk issuance drop by 42.5% compared with the same period a year earlier,” said S&P global head of Islamic finance Mohamed Damak.
The country’s central bank alone issued $45bn of sukuk in 2014 out of a total issuance of $116.4bn, he said.
The drop in sukuk comes after years of double-digit growth in the Shariah-compliant bonds.
S&P said in a report that part of the reason behind the bank’s decision was that its sukuk were subscribed to by a broad array of investors, preventing them from reaching their intended end-users, primarily Malaysian Islamic banks.
As a result, the central bank decided to switch to other instruments restricted to banks, it said.
Accordingly, S&P revised its forecast for total sukuk issuance this year to about $50bn-$60bn from $100bn-$115bn, it said.
“Excluding this effect, the market performed relatively well despite the decline in oil prices,” S&P said.
Kuala Lumpur and London have been the main centres for sukuk followed by the oil-rich Gulf States. The global value of outstanding sukuk was $269.4bn at the end of 2013. Unlike conventional bonds, which give ownership of debt, sukuk are asset-based securities that give investors a share because the Shariah law prohibits interest-bearing debt.
Malaysia’s central bank alone issued $45bn of sukuk in 2014 out of a total of $116.4bn
