Preliminary Study on the Maintenance Level of Waqf Properties: Federal Territory, Kuala LumpurIman, Islam, Waqf, Zakat, Usufruct, Provision

RAM Ratings (RAM) has assigned preliminary ratings of Zamarad Assets’ (Zamarad) Tranche 5 MYR 85 million Class A Sukuk as AAA/Stable, and MYR 15 million Class B Sukuk as AA2/Stable. The Tranche 5 Sukuk, with a combined offering of MYR 100 million, is the fifth issuance under Zamarad’s MYR 2 billion Sukuk Murabahah Programme. Zamarad is a special-purpose vehicle that undertakes securitisation of personal financing facilities from business partners of RCE Marketing (RCEM), which is a Malaysian financing services company. According to RAM, the Tranche 5 Sukuk, like previous iss...

The Malaysian Cabinet has granted approval for state-owned Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) to issue government-guaranteed Sukuk amounting to MYR 9.9 billion (USD 2.38 billion) to finance restructuring plans, according to local media reports. According to Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), FELDA’s financial position is expected to recover by the start of 2023 through the debt restructuring. Mustapa noted that the Malaysian Cabinet had received several recommendations based on findings from a special task force...

Etihad Airways (Etihad), which is wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi Government of the United Arab Emirates, has issued a USD 600 million Sukuk linked to reducing carbon emission targets. The Sukuk, which is touted by the airline as being the world’s first Transition Sukuk, is also the first sustainability-linked financing in global aviation and comes under a Transition Finance Framework, as reported by media. The airline has committed to a 20% reduction in carbon emissions intensity by 2025, 50% reduction by 2035, and net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to media reports. ...

Abu Dhabi’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been affirmed at ‘AA’ by Fitch Ratings (Fitch), with a Stable Outlook. The affirmation is based on Abu Dhabi’s robust fiscal and external metrics, and high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, which are balanced by the country’s high dependence on hydrocarbons, relatively weak governance indicators as well as a developing economic policy framework. Fitch anticipates that Abu Dhabi’s fiscal balance will fall into a deficit of 5.9% of GDP in 2020 from a 2.1% surplus in 201...

The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a US-based global financial industry association, has stated that Oman is making strides in financial adjustment and structural reforms to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. The IIF confirmed that the Omani economy was in a better condition than recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, which forecast a 10% contraction in real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 with growth only anticipated in 2022. Meanwhile, IIF’s forecasts are less pessimistic, with a 6.2% GDP contraction projected for 202...

Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) Director of Research and Development of Islamic Banking Regulation and Licensing, Deden Firman Hendarsyah has outlined three strategies to boost the competitiveness of the country’s Islamic banking sector, at a webinar entitled ‘Post Pandemic Shariah Economic Potential’ held on the 27th of October 2020. The first strategy, which entails strengthening Indonesia's Islamic banking capital, includes consolidation between parent conventional banks and subsidiary Islamic banking, with conventional banks providing a...

Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has assigned a preliminary rating of AA+is to Sime Darby Property’s (SD Property) Islamic Medium-Term Notes up to MYR 4.5 billion under its Sukuk Musharakah programme, with a Stable Outlook. A leading Malaysian property developer, SD Property has over 47 years of experience with developing residential townships and communities. The Sukuk Musharakah programme, which has a 30-year tenure ending in 2039, had been novated from Sime Darby to SD Property as part of a restructuring exercise in 2017. According to MARC, proceeds from the initial issuance...

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo has stated that there is still room for BI to cut its benchmark interest rate further, after remaining unchanged for four consecutive months, in order to support Indonesia’s economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking at a recent press briefing, Warjiyo added that the option remained open for rate cuts amid low inflation, with Indonesia’s annual inflation rate reaching 1.42% in September 2020, below the lower end of BI’s target of 2-4%. However, Warjiyo noted that further cuts to the seven-day rever...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) anticipates a gradual economic recovery for Jordan with gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to increase by 2.5% in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, following a 3% GDP decline in 2020, according to media reports. According to Ali Abbas, Advisor of IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, although the Jordanian authority’s containment measures of the pandemic during the first half of 2020 had helped protect lives and livelihoods, the economy of Jordan had suffered with increased unemployment. In addition, revenues of the Centra...