The A2 Stable Outlook rating assigned to the Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD) reflects robust liquidity and a high quality treasury portfolio which are offset by weak assets, Moody's Investment Service (Moody’s) said in its annual report. ICD continued to make losses during the 2019 fiscal year; however, the size of those losses saw significant decline. Capital adequacy was shored up by the second general capital increase, demonstrating consistent shareholder support bolstered by the Islamic Deve...

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan has stated that the nation’s economy was on track for recovery, after a surplus of USD 424 million of its July 2020 current account was reported, surging from its June 2020 deficit of USD 100 million.  The July 2020 current account growth is a record 244% year-on-year (YoY) compared to the previous year's deficit of USD 613 million, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), adding that the current account balance as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) posted a surplus of 1.9%&nb...

Indonesia’s economic recovery has been deemed ‘very fragile’ and could experience a reversal, according to the country’s Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who issued a warning that the economy faced an uphill battle to avoid a recession.  Indrawani backed her views by stating that although revenues had temporarily increased in June 2020 following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, the improvement had remained stagnant in July, with sectors such as trade, construction and mining showing declines in contribution.  Indrawa...

Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has affirmed its rating of the MYR 10.0 billion Islamic Medium-Term Notes (IMTN) programme of Aman Sukuk (Aman) at AAA-IS, with a Stable Outlook. As at 31st of May 2020, the outstanding IMTN under the rated programme was MYR 4.07 billion.  Aman is a wholly-owned funding vehicle of PBLT (formerly known as Pembinaan BLT), a Malaysian government-owned entity, which developed 74 projects for the Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM). The projects, comprising quarters and...

Indonesia’s Takaful sector has welcomed three new unit-linked Islamic insurance funds which it hopes will increase the competitiveness of the country’s general insurance industry, as well as the Takaful sector. Speaking at the debut of the three funds, Amana, Optima and Equita, President Director of Asuransi Takaful Keluarga (Takaful Keluarga), Arfandi Arief, noted that the current instability of the economic climate has intensified the need for financial protection and risk-m...

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), a Federal Business Sector organization in Nigeria, has called for the country’s government action on Halal standardisation and regulations ahead of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).  Speaking at an International Halal Industry webinar organised by ACCI recently, which was attended by key stakeholders including Malaysian and Indonesian trade representatives among others, the President of ACCI, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, stated that the Halal industry was critical to the ac...

According to local media reports, a total amount of IRR 820 trillion (around USD 19.5 billion) worth of Sukuk has been issued by the Deputy for Financial Supervision and Treasury Affairs (Deputy) of the Iranian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance (MEAF) in the previous Iranian calendar year, FY 2019/20, which ended on the 19th of March 2020.  Citing the Deputy’s annual report, the MEAF balanced around IRR 131.835 trillion (USD 3.13 billion) of the Iranian government’s debts and receivables through the issuance of treasury bonds in...

How Can Islamic Banks Lead in Building a Sustainable Financial System? IslamicMarkets LIVE Briefing Note

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), part of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), signed a Murabahah trade finance facility worth USD 8 million with Trustbank, which is a private joint-stock bank based in Uzbekistan, according to a statement released recently.  The financing, which is the second of its kind for Trustbank, aims to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Uzbekistan, particularly with import and pre-export funding requiremen...

Bahrain’s Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB or the Bank) has signed an agreement with Bahrain Bourse (BHB) that allows the Bank to utilize Ijara Sukuk issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) as underlying assets, according to a statement released recently.  The agreement was signed by Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BHB, Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, Executive Director of Banking Operations of CBB and Sattam Sulaiman Algosaibi, CEO of KHCB. The statement re...