KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will remain the market leader in global sukuk issuance despite recent delays and cancellations of mega projects.
CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd chief executive officer Rafe Haneef said it is 'business as usual' for the bank despite some impact on some deals in the pipeline.
“Malaysia as a whole issued some US$50 billion of global sukuk issuance last year and we expect that the country will retain that position. Though the cancellation and delays of some mega projects will have some impact on our sukuk deal that are in the pipeline and our yearly target this year, it is still business as usual for us,” said Rafe.
“If you look at last year, Malaysia had good run with issuances of over US$50 billion. Though projects are delayed and cancelled, those expenses are sustainable and I believe Malaysia will be able to retain its lion’s share of global Sukuk issuance market share this year.”
Earlier this year, Moody’s Investor Services said Malaysia continues to remain the world’s largest sukuk with an estimated 44 per cent of total sovereign sukuk outstanding in 2017.
According to Moody’s, sukuk issuance grew 17 per cent in 2017 to some US$100 billion.
For the first half of last year ended June 31st 2017, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd topped Bloomberg’s Underwriter League Table for ringgit bonds for 12 years running.
It led Bloomberg’s ringgit sukuk, with a market share of 30.56 per cent amounting to RM11.13 billion within the period under review.
Going forward, Rafe expect issuances will come from both the infrastructure and corporate space.
He also said CIMB Islamic does have some sukuk deals in the pipeline but did not divulge any further information.