Hong Kong government sells second Islamic sukuk bond to raise US$1.1 billion

Hong Kong Government has successfully sold its second Islamic sukuk bond to raise US$1 billion in its latest effort to promote Islamic finance in the city. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which handled the issue on behalf of the government, said on Thursday that the issue was popular and it received US$2 billion in orders from 49 global institutional investors including central banks and sovereign funds among others. The orders were double its US$1 billion issue size. The five-year bond was priced at 1.894 per cent, which is lower than last year’s issue and is 35 basis points over 5-year US Treasuries. The new government sukuk will be listed on June 3 in the stock exchange of Hong Kong, Nasdaq Dubai and Bursa Malaysia.