The strength of Saudi Arabia's public finances should not prevent the government from issuing sovereign Islamic bond -- or sukuk -- which will be critical to the development of corporate sukuk issues, bankers said.
Kamal Mian, head of Saudi Hollandi Bank's Islamic banking unit, also said that any of Saudi Arabia's 130-plus listed firms can tap the sukuk market, but the high financial cost linked to ratings from international agencies makes bank funding "always cheaper."
"Rating is expensive ... The (sukuk) Saudi market needs a local rating agency," Mian told the Reuters Middle East Summit in Riyadh.
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