Malaysia Remains Leader Of Global Sukuk Market In 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia maintained its pole position in the global sukuk arena, with 41.1 per cent of the US$18.2 billion (US$1 = RM4.43) issued as at end-December 2016, said RAM Rating Services Bhd. RAM, in its latest issue of 'Sukuk Snapshot', said despite a slight decline and the weaker ringgit, sukuk originated from Malaysia still summed up to US$29.9 billion as at end-2016 compared to US$30.4 billion the previous year. Besides Malaysia, the other big issuers were Indonesia (16.3 per cent, US$11.9 billion) and United Arab Emirates (10.9 per cent, US$7.9 billion), it said. It said greater sukuk issuance in non-core markets also augmented the global sukuk base to US$72.9 billion at year-end (end-2015: US$63.4 billion) with issues from Turkey (US$5 billion), Pakistan (US$4.8 billion) and Bangladesh (US$1.1 billion). A total of US$18.2 billion of global sukuk was issued in the fourth quarter of 2016, it said. RAM's Head of Islamic Finance, Ruslena Ramli, said last year, global sukuk issuance exceeded the agency's projection of US$55 billion–US$65 billion. The 'Sukuk Snapshot' also highlighted that a total of RM29.9 billion of domestic sukuk was issued in the fourth quarter of 2016, leading to an issuance value of RM129.4 billion for the full year. The financial services and infrastructure & utilities sectors remained the chief driving forces of the better showing, which surpassed RAM's full-year projection of RM100 billion–RM120 billion for the local-currency market. The value of outstanding sukuk had also increased to RM661.9 billion as at end-2016 (end-2015: RM608.5 billion), accounting for 56.3 per cent of the overall Malaysian market's outstanding debt securities. The 'Sukuk Snapshot' is designed as a quick reference point for sukuk data and trends. The publication aims to serve the needs of market practitioners, enabling them to monitor global and Malaysian sukuk market developments. --BERNAMA