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Islamic finance

The total debt capital market in the GCC is likely to cross $1 trillion this year

UAE raises $1.5bn from 10-year bonds

The UAE has secured $1.5 billion from the sale of long-term bonds, according to a news report. The government sold 10-year bonds priced at 60 basis points over US Treasuries, Reuters reported, citing bank documents.  The initial price guidance was lowered from 90 bps after demand reached $5.75 billion, the report said. NewsletterGet the Best […]

Egypt's new Shariah Index says it has received strong interest from a large number of local, regional, and international investors

Hopes high for Egypt’s shariah-compliant index

The Egyptian stock exchange has announced the launch of a long-awaited shariah-compliant index, a move observers say is likely to attract new investors and boost the North African country’s latent Islamic banking sector. Gulf investors are said to be particularly interested. The chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Ahmed el Sheikh, announced that the new […]

Government initiatives to raise levels of Saudi home ownership have increased the number of mortgage approvals

Saudi new mortgage approvals rebound

A greater supply of affordable housing and a growing resignation among prospective house buyers that interest rates are unlikely to fall substantially is helping to propel a rebound in new residential mortgages in Saudi Arabia. Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia set a target to increase home ownership among the kingdom’s adult citizens to 60 percent […]

Saudi Arbaia's new sukuk initiative aims to bolster the domestic market

Saudi Arabia issues $17bn Islamic bonds after early repayment

Saudi Arabia has issued new sukuk (Islamic bonds) worth SAR64 billion ($17 billion) following the early purchase of over SAR63 billion of outstanding debt.  The initiative aims to bolster the domestic market, the National Debt Management Centre (NMDC), which manages the Saudi government’s debt obligations and future maturities, said in a statement. The new sukuk […]

Saudi Arabia sold three sukuk tranches of $1.25 billion, $1.5 billion and $2.25 billion

Saudi Arabia’s new sukuk order book hits $20bn

Order books for Saudi Arabia’s $5 billion Islamic bond (sukuk) reached $20 billion, according to news report. The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, sold tranches of $1.25 billion, $1.5 billion and $2.25 billion, reported IFR, a London Stock Exchange Group publication. The bonds have durations of three, six and 10 years, respectively. NewsletterGet the […]

The indicative price for EIB's 5-year sustainability sukuk was set at 100 basis points over US Treasuries

Emirates Islamic Bank’s green sukuk orders hit $1.9bn

The Islamic unit of Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest lender, has launched a $750 million green sharia-compliant sukuk. The indicative price for Emirates Islamic Bank’s (EIB) 5-year sustainability sukuk was set at 100 basis points over US Treasuries, Reuters reported, citing a document from an arranging bank.  The issuance, part of EIB’s $2.5 billion certificate issuance […]

Fitch expects Saudi Arabia to be one of the most active sukuk issuers this year

GCC debt market on way to trillion-dollar milestone

The total debt capital market in the GCC is likely to cross $1 trillion this year, after reaching $940 billion in the first quarter of 2024. New research from Fitch Ratings shows that more than a third of GCC debt issued last year was in the form of sukuk, also known as an Islamic bond.  […]

Funds in green sukuk are placed in traceable, environmentally friendly investments such as renewable energy projects

Demand is high for Alrajhi bank’s first green sukuk

Saudi Arabia’s Alrajhi Bank has completed its $1 billion sukuk – having raised $3.5 billion in subscriptions from local and international investors – as the kingdom’s lenders push to raise funds for the government’s expensive giga-projects.  Sukuk are sharia-compliant bonds that were developed as an alternative to conventional bonds, which are not considered permissible by […]

Core countries account for the majority of Islamic finance – the GCC accounted for 86 percent of growth in 2023

Growth doubts over Islamic finance despite trillions in assets

Islamic finance assets grew to about $3.3 trillion worldwide last year, but credit ratings agency S&P has warned that a planned industry standard could drive down sukuk issuance in 2025 and beyond.  S&P is predicting high single-digit growth in total assets in 2024-25 after an increase of 8 percent last year.  The agency expects the […]

Garden, Nature, Outdoors

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 […]

'ADIB strongly denies being in any negotiations to acquire a stake in Bank Syariah Indonesia,' the bank said

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 […]

Singapore's Olam Group said Islamic financing gave it access to a new investor pool

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 […]

Architecture, Building, Office Building

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. NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI […]

Architecture, Building, Cityscape

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 […]

An Al Rajhi Bank branch at Medina airport. Al Rajhi and Saudi National Bank are the kingdom's largest lenders by assets

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 […]

GCC banks can save more than $3bn per year by merging branches and accelerating digitalisation

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 […]

Dubai's Mashreq is among the GCC banks looking for growth in the US and Europe

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 […]

The total number of savers for Saudi Arabia's sukuk product stood at 35,000, with the yield set at 5.64%

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 […]

Younis Haji Al Khoori UAE Saudi debt

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 […]

A trader at the Qatar Stock Exchange. The Gulf nation has not issued any Eurobonds since early 2020

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 […]

Saudi German Health runs hospitals and clinics in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Yemen

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, […]