Development UAE commits $50m to development fund The UAE has committed $50 million to the second phase of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund 2.0 (LLF 2.0), a multi-donor initiative targeting sustainable economic development in the Islamic Development Bank’s (ISDB) 57 member countries. The funding will be deployed by LLF 2.0 to support critical projects in health and infectious diseases, agriculture, and social infrastructure in low […] April 24, 2024
Banking & Finance ADIB denies stake purchase talks in Indonesian lender Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has denied holding talks with Indonesia’s largest Islamic lender to acquire a minority stake for just over $1 billion. “ADIB strongly denies being in any negotiations to acquire a stake in Bank Syariah Indonesia,” the emirate’s largest Islamic lender said in a statement published on the Abu Dhabi bourse on […] April 18, 2024
Banking & Finance UAE investors join Olam Agri’s $625m Islamic facility Investors from the UAE are part of a global consortium providing Singapore’s Olam Group with a $625 million sharia-compliant financing facility. Other investors are from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company said in a statement. Names of the investors were not disclosed. The facility, initially guaranteed by Olam Group, will transfer to Olam Agri […] April 5, 2024
Finance Al Salam Bank to acquire KFH’s Bahraini unit Al Salam Bank, a sharia-compliant lender in Bahrain, has signed definitive agreements to acquire the entire stake in Kuwait Finance House’s (KFH) subsidiary in the kingdom. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, the bank said in a statement to the Bahrain Bourse. No details were given on the deal. In November 2023, Al Salam […] April 3, 2024
Banking & Finance Mubadala tightens sukuk spread as orders hit $7bn A subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company is raising $1 billion through a US dollar-denominated 10-year sukuk (sharia-compliant bond), a news report said. The new funds will be raised by Mamoura Diversified Global Holding, Reuters reported, citing a document. The purpose of the fund was not given. Book orders topped $7 billion, which allowed the […] March 27, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance Liquidity strain set to push Saudi banks to seek more funds Saudi Arabian banks’ loan books are set to expand faster than their deposits again in 2024, raising costs and pushing lenders to seek additional funding sources. However, the kingdom’s banks are expected to increase their annual profits this year as government-led infrastructure projects and likely cuts to benchmark interest rates boost margins for its two […] March 20, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance Mergers drive growth in Bahrain’s Islamic finance sector When Al Salam Bank, one of the largest Islamic banks in Bahrain, became majority shareholder of its Algerian subsidiary last June, CEO Rafik Nayed made clear that the shopping spree was not over. Mergers and acquisitions “will remain an important pillar of our growth plans”, Nayed said – and last month Al Salam announced a […] March 13, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance GCC banks look to US and Europe GCC banks may be forced to look overseas to fulfil growth ambitions as home markets become increasingly saturated, experts say. While some banks have already ventured abroad – mainly into Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan, which constitute nearly a half of their presence outside the Gulf – more developed markets such as the US and Europe […] February 28, 2024
Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia raises $230m from its first savings product Subscriptions to the first round of the Saudi government’s sukuk savings product reached SAR861 million ($229.6 million), the National Debt Management Center (NDMC) said. The total number of savers for the sukuk product stood at 35,000, with the yield set at 5.64 percent, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The sukuk maturity date is February […] February 15, 2024
Banking & Finance Debt markets in UAE and Saudi Arabia hit $630bn Debt capital markets in the GCC’s two biggest economies, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are expected to grow again this year after double digit expansion in 2023 saw their combined total reach $630 billion. Fitch Ratings said Saudi Arabia-based corporates are expected to issue more debt this year after a 14.5 percent rise in the […] January 29, 2024
Finance Qatar to launch its first bond issuance in four years Qatar will sell its first green bond soon and the first external debt issuance in four years, the country’s finance minister has said. “We’re ready to do it very soon,” Ali Al-Kuwari told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We are not hungry for money but it will be mainly to send […] January 18, 2024
Banking & Finance GCC companies lead early sukuk moves in 2024 Saudi Arabia’s largest healthcare provider has announced plans to issue a riyal-denominated sukuk as analysts predict that $170 billion of the sharia-compliant bonds will be issued this year. Middle East Healthcare Company, the parent of Saudi German Health, said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange that the offering size would be determined later, […] January 17, 2024
Analysis Banking & Finance New certification to swell sharia-compliant funds A London-based fund manager hopes a pioneering Islamic finance certification can boost sharia-compliant equity investments worldwide and help ensure Muslim clients’ wealth is deployed to meet both their religious ideals and benefit society. Most sharia-compliant equity funds focus on excluding haram industries such as alcohol, tobacco, weapons, pork and gambling. Yet such a methodology has […] December 12, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance Late-year flurry could boost the sukuk market Sukuk issuance fell in the first nine months of 2023 – but this year’s total could yet equal that of 2022, Fitch Ratings’ Islamic finance chief told AGBI. Gulf governments and corporations are issuing sharia-compliant bonds to diversify their funding and ease their reliance on bank borrowing. Sukuk were developed as an alternative to conventional […] December 7, 2023
Banking & Finance Strong upsurge in UAE green sukuk ahead of Cop28 The UAE has witnessed a strong push for sukuk to finance green projects, according to data released by Fitch Ratings. Sukuk are sharia-compliant bonds that were developed as an alternative to conventional bonds, which are not considered permissible by many Muslims as they pay interest, and also may finance businesses involved in activities not allowed […] November 29, 2023
Finance PIF’s Saudi Real Estate issues $933m sukuk Sukuk worth SAR3.5 billion ($933.17 million) to expand funding in Saudi Arabia’s real estate sector has been issued by the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company. The offering from the company, which is wholly owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, makes up the final two tranches under its SAR20 billion government-guaranteed sukuk programme. The issuance […] November 23, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance ADIB expects profits to keep rising after stellar year Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’s net profit margin will expand further, according to its group chief financial officer Mohamed Abdelbary. The sharia-compliant lender has enjoyed a bumper first nine months of 2023 in which its earnings increased by nearly half. “We’ve managed to capitalise on the increase in interest rates in the market because of the […] November 16, 2023
Finance Nigeria in talks with Saudi bank for project funding Nigerian President Bola Tinubu met top officials of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to negotiate a “multi-billion-dollar infrastructure finance facility” to help build ports and power plants, his spokesperson said on Tuesday. Tinubu held talks with IsDB vice president Mansur Muhtar late on Monday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said in a […] November 15, 2023
Oil & Gas Israeli gas exports to Egypt resume in small volumes Israeli natural gas exports to Egypt have resumed after a disruption last weekend but in small volumes, an official in Egypt’s petroleum ministry said on Thursday, without specifying the current flow. Three people with knowledge of the matter also told Reuters on Tuesday the flow had resumed, with two saying it had only been reduced, […] November 3, 2023
Analysis Banking & Finance Stronger GCC relations a boon to Turkey’s Islamic banks Improving relations between Turkey and the GCC could lead to more investment in the country’s Islamic banking system, which the government is keen to expand. The Turkish authorities have set a target for Islamic banks to reach 15 percent of total sector assets by 2025, up from 8.5 percent this year. Top-down support has been […] November 1, 2023
Finance S&P revises Israel’s outlook to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ S&P Global revised Israel’s outlook to “negative” from “stable” on Tuesday, blaming risks that the Israel-Hamas war could spread more widely, with a more pronounced impact on the economy and security situation in the country. Last week another big credit ratings agency, Fitch, placed Israel’s sovereign debt rating of “A+” on rating watch negative and […] October 25, 2023
Finance PIF’s sukuk may test investor appetite for Middle East Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is planning to issue its first dollar-denominated Islamic bonds, but the move could be a test of investor appetite as regional tensions rise over the conflict in Gaza. Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank have been nominated as global joint co-ordinators to organise a series of investor calls […] October 17, 2023
