POLL-Global sukuk sales seen down in 2010, Dubai crisis weighs

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Global sukuk issuance will be weaker than expected this year, with some analysts seeing a drop of as much as a fifth from 2009, as Dubai's debt crisis and an expected rise in borrowing costs weigh on sentiment, a Reuters poll shows.

The majority of 12 Islamic bankers and industry experts surveyed expect issuance to range between $15 billion-$17 billion in 2010, down from a similar poll in October which estimated over $20 billion in sales this year.

Global sukuk issuance totalled $19 billion last year, of which the United Arab Emirates accounted for a fifth, according to Thomson Reuters data.