Monday 2 January 2012

Saudi Arabia, Asia set to dominate sukuk market in 2012 - Arab News

Asia and Saudi Arabia are inevitably set to dominate the sukuk market in 2012 with high quality quasi-sovereign issuers taking the lead, especially to fund infrastructure and projects in the oil, gas, petrochemicals and transport sectors.

"The outlook for 2012 appears bright," explained an experienced Islamic banker to Arab News on the condition that he remains anonymous. "The ringgit-denominated sukuk market will continue to dominate with several mega issuances to fund infrastructure development activities and programs. The total sukuk issuance for 2012 is expected to hover between RM50 billion to RM60 billion, which would account for 70 percent of global sukuk issuances for 2012. Wakala and Ijara sukuk structures will dominate. I am expecting new entrants from Asia Pacific, Kazakhstan and possibly a couple of African countries to enter the sukuk market," he added.

The major move by far will come over the next two weeks in Malaysia when Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan Berhad (PLUS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLUS Expressways Berhad, the major provider of expressway operation services in Malaysia, is expected to launch a mega RM34.35 billion sukuk program.


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