The Palestinian central bank is attracting local banks to its first sale of Islamic bills, part of a plan to jumpstart the Shariah-compliant finance industry.
Palestine Islamic Bank, the largest Shariah-compliant bank in the territories with $364 million of assets, will submit a bid for as much as $10 million, and Arab Islamic Bank said it probably will participate. The Palestine Monetary Authority is seeking to sell as much as $50 million of sukuk maturing in about 18 months to local banks next year in what would be the central bank’s first debt offering, Governor Jihad al-Wazir said in an interview in Ramallah on Nov. 25.
“There is strong demand for such an instrument because Palestine is a mainly Muslim area and many individuals hesitate to deal with conventional banking,” Mahmoud Al-Ram’ah, general manager of Palestine Islamic Bank, said in a telephone interview from Ramallah on Dec. 2. “Our liquidity is high. We have been pushing to invest in a government sukuk.”
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