The political conflict in the Middle East will make it more expensive for companies in the Arab Gulf such as First Gulf Bank PJSC and Masraf al-Rayan to issue Islamic bonds as relative yields hold near the highest level in more than three months.
First Gulf, controlled by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, plans to sell bonds or sukuk this year, Chief Executive Officer Andre Sayegh said March 14. Masraf, Qatar’s second-largest Islamic bank, said March 15 it will seek shareholder approval to issue as much as $1 billion of Shariah-compliant debt.
The difference between the average yield for Gulf Cooperation Council sukuk and the London interbank offered rate has widened 65 basis points, or 0.65 percentage point, to 401 since Jan. 25 when the uprising erupted in Egypt, the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai GCC US Dollar Sukuk Index shows.
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