Indonesia’s annual consumer price index (CPI) came in at 1.68 in 2020, with prices up 0.45% month-on-month in December 2020, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS). This marks the lowest ever recorded inflation rate in the country’s history and remains below Bank Indonesia’s target range of between 2.0% and 4.0%. Bank Indonesia data also revealed that annual core inflation (excluding food volatility and government-fixed prices), declined consistently in the nine months to December 2020 reaching 1.6%. In December 2020 alone, core inflation...

Data from the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (SGIE) 2020-2021 indicates that the top five Halal food-exporting nations are all members of the International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF). The IHAF is a non-governmental, independent network of accreditation bodies, its main aim being to harmonise Halal accreditation practices.  According to the SGIE report, Brazil, India, the United States of America, Russia and Argentina made up the top five exporting nations to the non-OIC region. Value of exports by these countries were recorded at...

Brunei recorded economic growth of 0.5% year-on-year (YoY) in the third quarter of 2020 (3Q 2020), buoyed by top-line performance in the non-oil and gas sector. Data from Brunei’s Department of Economic Planning and Statistics (DEPS) revealed that the 3Q 2020 economic performance was largely attributed to 8.0% YoY growth from the downstream hydrocarbon sector, which has remained strong since Hengyi Industries commenced operations in November 2019. According to the DEPS, the agriculture, forestry and fishery...

The Halal Development Corporation (HDC), Malaysia’s Government-backed Halal industry agency, has announced that it will continue to focus on the digitalisation of the Halal industry in Malaysia to boost the marketability of local Halal products, while strengthening Halal integrity, according to a statement issued on the 5th of January 2021, as reported by local media.  In addition, the HDC stated that it would help create more skilled Halal workers in Malaysia, particularly in the food and non-food industries including cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.&n...

Despite the significant size of the Halal industry, there is an evident gap in meeting an increased demand for high-quality Halal consumer products. There is also a systemic shortage of Halal-certified raw materials, other ingredients, and additives. As Halal moves from a product approach towards a supply chain approach, issues of Halal integrity have also come to the fore. In Malaysia, we saw the recent Halal meat cartel scandal, where Halal meat has been mixed with imported non-Halal meat, repacked, and distributed in the local market as Halal meat for more than 40 years.The Muslim world h...

RAM Rating Services (RAM) has reaffirmed Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad’s (BIMB) AA3/Stable/P1 financial institution ratings. In addition, BIMB’s MYR 1 billion Subordinated Sukuk Murabahah Programme (2015/2045) rating has been reaffirmed at A1 with a Stable Outlook. Furthermore, the ratings of the Senior Sukuk Murabahah and the Subordinated Sukuk Murabahah of BIMB’s MYR 10 billion Sukuk Murabahah Programme (2018/-) have also been reaffirmed at AA3/Stable and A1/Stable, respectively.  Accor...

Oman-based Shariah-compliant insurance provider Takaful Oman Insurance (Takaful Oman), has announced on the Muscat Securities Market that it is in the process of issuing a perpetual Sukuk worth OMR 6 million.  The bourse announcement, dated 27th of December 2020, stated that Takaful Oman is in the process of preparing the prospectus of the Sukuk to be issued through private placement, in cooperation with Sohar Islamic acting as issue manager. The announcement stated that the Sukuk issuance, subscription and dealing is subject to approval by Oman’s Cap...

Bangladesh-based Standard Bank Limited (SB) has become a fully-fledged Islamic bank with effect from the 1st of January 2021, to be operated entirely based on Shariah principles, according to local media reports.  SB’s bank authorities organised a virtual prayer meeting on the 3rd of January 2021 to mark the inauguration of the Islamic bank.   Earlier on the 29th of December 2020, SB obtained confirmation from the central bank of the country, Bangladesh Bank (BB), to conduct its operations on a fully Shariah basis. SB’...

Turkey’s inflation rate witnessed a 14.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase in December 2020, higher than the 11.84% YoY increase reported in December 2019, according to a recent announcement by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the country’s national statistical body.  The inflation rate was slightly higher than that projected by Anadolu Agency’s panel of economists, who forecast the annual inflation in December 2020 to rise by 14.34% YoY. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Turkey predicted the year-end inflation rate to hit 12.1%...

Jordan’s Prime Minister, Bisher Khasawneh, stated that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow 2.5% year-on-year (YoY) in 2021, from an estimated contraction of 3.0% in 2020, resulting from the effects of COVID-19.  Speaking at a Parliamentary meeting on the 3rd of January 2021, the Prime Minister also announced that the Government of Jordan was planning the launch of a recovery program over 2021-2024 to address the economic social and financial challenges across several economic sectors. &nbs...