Speaking at the opening of the webinar series on Halal Lifestyle, Global Halal Consumer Trend, on the 16th of September 2020, Bank Indonesia (BI)’s Director of the Department of Shariah Economy and Finance, Prijono (Director), acknowledged that Shariah economic principles had a key role to play in Indonesia’s recovery from the effects of COVID-19.  The Director, however, noted that there were still some advancements to be made for the implementation of Islamic economy and finance i...

Regulators are encouraging more consideration of environment-related risks by financial institutions to improve the overall financial stability they are charged with maintaining As challenges to the analysis of environmental risks surface, regulators have called for more support for demonstrating projects in a broad range of geographical and financial sub-sectors, which should include Islamic finance Islamic banks should take the call from regulators directed at both developed and developing market financial institutions as an opportunity to begin improving their capacities and...

Warba Bank’s (WB) long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been affirmed at ‘A+’ by Fitch Ratings (Fitch) with a Stable Outlook.  The rating affirmation of WB’s IDRs are driven by support from the Kuwaiti State, which is rated AA/Stable by Fitch and has a Support Rating (SR) of ‘1’ and a Support Rating Floor (SRF) of ‘A+’, indicating a strong record of assistance to Kuwait’s domestic banks if needed by Kuwaiti authorities. Kuwait’s sovereign rating was also a driver of the Stable Outlook on WB’s IDRs. Me...

Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Corporation (PMRC), a mortgage liquidity facility set up to assist with long-term funding constraints in Pakistan’s banking sector, will be raising PKR 3.5 billion via a three-year Sukuk offering, including a green shoe option valued at PKR 1.5 billion. PMRC has appointed BMA Capital Management (BMA) to broker the deal according to local media reports.  According to Saad Hashemy, Executive Director of BMA, the Sukuk issuance is unique as it offers a fixed pre-tax yield of 10.25% per annum, adding that as PMRC enjoys a tax-exempt...

Aneka Gas Industri (Aneka Gas) will offer securities worth IDR 305 billion to the public on the 25th, 28th and 29th of September 2020. The securities comprise of Sustainable Sukuk Ijarah II Aneka Gas Phase II 2020 (Sukuk Ijarah) worth IDR 205 billion and Sustainable Bonds II Aneka Gas Phase II 2020 (Sustainable Bonds) valued at IDR 100 billion, according to local media reports.  The Sukuk Ijarah, which has a maturity date of 370 days on the 12th of October 2021, will have a value of IDR 205 billion, with instalments of IDR 18.96 billion per year. Meanwhile,...

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Arabia’s main power utility company, has raised USD 1.3 billion from its international USD-denominated Green Sukuk issuance, which was launched on the 10th of September 2020, according to media reports.  The RegS Senior Unsecured Green Sukuk, comprised of dual tranches with a total of 6,500 Sukuk bonds issued, amounting to USD 650 million per tranche, at a fixed profit rate of 1.74% per annum for the five-year tranche and 2.413% for the ten-year tranche.  The Green Sukuk issuance, which will be listed on the Ir...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has maintained its projection for Malaysia's 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) at a growth rate of 6.5% year-on-year (YoY) in its September Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 Update. However, ADB has revised its GDP growth forecast for 2020 to -5% YoY from -4% YoY projected earlier in April 2020, as containment measures for COVID-19 were prolonged further than anticipated, and with the global economy plummeting into a sharp recession.  The ADO 2020 Update reported that the Malaysian economy would continue to decline as consumption, exports and inv...

Total trade in Indonesia continued on its downward trajectory in August 2020, with official data showing an 8.36% year-on-year (YoY) decline in total exports to USD 13.07 billion, whilst imports declined at a much steeper rate. According to media reports, the decline in exports was led overall by weak manufacturing and mining shipments. Total exports during the first eight months of 2020 stood at USD 103.16 billion, down 6.51% YoY. Total imports reached USD 10.74 billion in August 2020, down 24.19% YoY, with all categories of imports declining in the double-digits, and the largest...

The importance of Zakat in eliminating poverty was highlighted by Jordan’s HRH Prince Hassan, President of the Arab Thought Forum (ATF), at a recent virtual meeting held by the ATF to discuss the role of Zakat and Awqaf in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and economic levels.  According to Prince Hassan, institutionalising Zakat and solidarity should be considered a human tendency rather than a religious obligation, particularly regarding illness, sorrow and poverty among refugees and displaced persons, citing that 80% of the world’s refugees wer...

Kuwait International Bank’s (KIB) long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has received affirmation at ‘A+’ by Fitch Ratings (Fitch), with a stable outlook.  The rating affirmation of KIB’s IDRs are driven by support by the Kuwaiti State, which has a Support Rating (SR) of ‘1’ and a Support Rating Floor (SRF) of ‘A+’, indicating a strong record of assistance to Kuwait’s domestic banks if needed by Kuwaiti authorities. This is reflected by Kuwait’s sovereign rating (AA/Stable), and strong inclination to pro...