Bahraini Islamic lender Al Baraka will issue up to $500 million in sukuk in the first quarter of 2011, its chief executive said.
‘We will issue sukuk in 2011 for the group in Bahrain between $200m and $500 million,’ Adnan Yousif said on the sidelines of a banking conference in Beirut. ‘It is for five years and will help financial institutions attract new clients,’ he added.
Sukuk bonds are a flagship product of the Islamic finance industry. Analysts say the Gulf-based Islamic bond market is poised for revival as large corporate and supra-national issues come to market.
Since August, the region has seen offerings as varied as Kuveyt Turk’s three-year $100m Islamic bond, the first out of secular Turkey, to Qatar Islamic Bank’s $750m sukuk, which market insiders say was a runaway success.
The market is also awaiting Al Baraka’s $200 million sukuk by 2010-end and more from Jordan and Turkey.
Yousif said his bank was still interested in the Asian market and he planned to go to Indonesia and Malaysia in December to meet banks.
The merger of the bank’s Pakistani unit operations with Emirates Global Islamic Bank was finalised last month, and the new entity has begun operating under the name of Al Baraka Bank Pakistan Limited.
‘(The merger in) Pakistan has been achieved, and the money transferred. Now we are heading to Indonesia and then Malaysia. But Indonesia comes first,’ he said.
Indonesia is becoming an increasingly attractive market for Islamic finance since it took steps to change laws to accommodate the industry.
