Egypt has put the discussion of the country’s new sovereign Sukuk bill on hold until the new class of members of Parliament are seated in the House of Representatives in January 2021, according to local media reports.  The current House of Representatives was expected to commence discussions of the Sukuk bill on the 15th of December 2020, but ultimately postponed it to the next legislative cycle, following the end of Egypt’s Parliament’s five-year term.  The Sukuk bill, which received approval from Egypt’s Cabinet in early Nov...

Saudi Arabia’s Finance Ministry has announced a 2021 Budget expenditure of SAR 990 billion, 7% lower than the estimated spending for 2020. This decline comes as Saudi Arabia seeks ways to lower its significant deficit caused due to lower petroleum revenues and the impacts of COVID-19, according to media reports.  The Finance Ministry stated that this proposed decline in expenditure within the 2021 Budget reflected the ability to implement policies to balance between economic stability, growth and fiscal sustainability in the medium-to long-term. With total revenue for 20...

The primary role of insurance and Takaful companies is to provide insurance cover for individuals, properties and economic institutions. Apart from this, insurance and Takaful companies also serve as an important investment tool, whereby they invest premiums collected with the aim of using these returns to protect policyholders’ rights by providing reserves and sufficient liquidity to meet policy claims. The effectiveness of these investments made also dictates the insurance company’s efficiency and financial sustainability.  The Capital Market Authority (CMA) of O...

For the eighth consecutive year, Bahrain has come out on top, leading the Middle East and North Africa region and ranking third globally amongst the world’s top five Islamic finance economies for 2020, according to the Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI).  The IFDI  forms a part of the Islamic Finance Development Report produced annually by Refinitiv and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). The IFDI assigns an annual rank for each economy in the global Islamic finance industry with aggregate scores drawn from five ar...

Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has affirmed its rating of Tanjung Bin O&M’s MYR 470 million Islamic Securities (Sukuk Wakalah) at AA-IS, with a Stable Outlook.  Tanjung Bin O&M is a Malaysian-based electric energy provider. The rating reflects the credit strength of Tanjung Bin O&M’s parent Malakoff Power (MPower), which provides unconditional support to make up any cash shortfall for the Sukuk Wakalah.  The rating is supported by the steady revenue stream that Tanjung Bin O&M generates as the services provider of the...

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has announced the listing of the fifth issuance of Hub Power Company’s (Hubco) Privately Placed, Rated and Secured Sukuk Certificates (PPSCs) of PKR 5 billion on the PSX, effective 15th of December 2020. The listing was made in pursuant to Chapter 5C of the PSX Rule Book, under ‘Privately Placed Debt Securities’ Listing Regulations’.  According to a PSX statement issued on the 14th of December 2020, the PPSCs have a four-year tenure with a profit rate of one-year Karachi Inter-Ban...

The Philippines and Indonesia are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore cooperation, trade facilitation and Halal goods certification, according to the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), as reported in local media.  Trade in Halal-certified goods between the Philippines and Indonesia is anticipated to improve as the two nations agree to strengthen cooperation in Halal product quality assurance. The proposed MoU will serve as a framework to facilitate the trade of Halal-certified goods between the two countries through a government-to-gov...

Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has emphasised the need to expand and strengthen financial technology (fintech) in the field of Shariah to encourage Islamic financial inclusion in the country, according to local media reports.  Speaking virtually at an international webinar titled 'Digitalization Leading the Islamic Economy in the New Normal’ on the 15th of December 2020, Ma’ruf stated that fintech and other electronic services needed to be strengthened, while noting that the development of digital technology, which had pen...

A framework for the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox (FRS) Initiative has been issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), which includes the eligibility criteria for application through to the evaluation process of the Sandbox live testing period. The first phase of the FRS will be open to receive all fintech applications that are related to payments solutions, according to a media report.  The FRS is a testing opportunity for providers of fintech solution applications, where certain regulatory exemptions will be granted by the CBO, thereb...

Malaysia’s Finance Minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, has stated that Malaysia is not impacted by the recent downgrade by Fitch Ratings (Fitch) of its credit rating (to BBB+ from A-) and remains on track towards an economic recovery in 2021,with investor confidence remaining high. Tengku Zafrul added that the Budget 2021 initiatives will keep up the recovery momentum for the country.  Speaking during the Minister’s Question Time session on the 16th of December 2020, the Finance Minister noted that gross domes...