IslamicFinance.de

Cheap oil and ambitious infrastructure-building programmes have set the scene for a record year for Islamic bond sales. In the Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia led the way with a $9bn global offer in April, while Oman and Bahrain have also sold sukuk. In Malaysia, funding for rail and other projects is driving ringgit issuance by state- owned companies. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, sukuk sales have reached $42.2bn so far this year. CIMB Islamic Bank has arranged the most Islamic note sales by value this year. The bank's CEO, Mohamed Rafe Mohamed Haneef, expects this momentum to be continued through to 2018. Besides the Saudi offer, the biggest sales so far this year are Hong Kong with $1bn, Indonesia with $3bn, Turkey with $1.25bn, Oman with $2bn and Bahrain with $850mn of sukuk in September. In Malaysia, state-owned companies DanaInfra Nasional and Prasarana Malaysia have been among the biggest corporate issuers this year.