According to a media report, Saudi Arabia has released a statement announcing new Sukuk issuances worth SAR 34.645 billion under its Local Sukuk programme, which is an initiative of the National Debt Management Center to unify local issuances.  The first tranche is set to mature in 2024 and is valued at SAR 8.970 billion, while the second tranche worth SAR 6.025 billion will mature in 2028. The third and fourth tranches are valued at SAR 6.5 billion and SAR 13.150 billion and are set to mature in 2032 and 2035, respectively.&nb...

Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has affirmed its rating of Kapar Energy Ventures (KEV)’ MYR 2 billion Ijarah Sukuk at AA+IS. MARC has also revised the rating Outlook to Negative from Stable. KEV owns and operates the Kapar Power Station which has a capacity of 2,200 megawatts.  The rating affirmation reflects MARC’s expectation of a very high probability of parental support for KEV from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) (AAA/Stable), where TNB owns a 60% stake in KEV. This anticipated support also warrants the affirmed rating being...

On the 23rd of July 2020, Bahrain Bourse announced the listing of the Government Islamic Ijarah Sukuk worth BHD 125 million.  The Ijarah Sukuk marks the 26th issuance by the Central Bank of Bahrain made on behalf of the Government of Bahrain. As of the date of the announcement on the Bahrain Bourse, the Sukuk will trade under the symbol of GILS26.SUK.  The Ijarah Sukuk, which was listed at a par value of BHD 1 each on the 19th of July 2020 will mature in six years on the 19th of July 2026.  The Ijarah Sukuk carries a p...

According to local news reports, Egyptian Steel is in negotiations with local banks to secure Shariah-compliant funding worth EGP 2 billion. The unnamed sources revealed that Egyptian Steel aims to use the loan funds to increase its working capital as well as to finance the expansion of its factories in Port Said and Ain Sokhna.  The news source added that the factory in Port Said has a total annual production capacity of 350,000 tonnes of steel, and is built over a total area of 40,000 square meters.  The facility in Ain Sokhna, which is Egyptian...

RAM Ratings (RAM) has assigned a preliminary corporate credit rating (CCR) of A1/Stable/P1 to PESTECH International (PESTECH), and has also assigned an A3/Stable rating for PESTECH’s proposed MYR 400 million Tranche 1, under the MYR 1 billion perpetual Sukuk Musharakah programme.  According to RAM, the ratings reflect PESTECH’s solid business position in power infrastructure and rail electrification segments, as well as PESTECH’s healthy debt-coverage ratios, supported by the locked-in cash flows resulting from long-term concession-based projects.&n...

Egypt’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been affirmed at B+ by Fitch Ratings (Fitch), with a Stable Outlook.  The rating and Outlook is backed by Egypt’s recent track record of fiscal and economic reforms, along with policy commitment to further strengthen the reform program. In addition, Fitch notes that the readily available fiscal and external financing to support the COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to the B+ rating.  Fitch notes that the ratings are constrained by still large fiscal deficits, hig...

S&P Global Ratings (S&P Global) affirmed Turkey’s unsolicited foreign-currency sovereign credit rating at B+/B and its unsolicited local-currency sovereign credit rating at BB-/B, with a Stable Outlook. Turkey’s unsolicited national scale ratings have also been affirmed at trAA+/--/trA-1+, according to S&P Global. According to S&P Global, the ratings are based on the negative effects of COVID-19 on the Turkish economy. Despite the pandemic appearing to be under control, evident by a steady decline in new cases reported, S&P G...

Canada’s Halal Monitoring Authority (HMA) has extended its support to restaurants around Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, by bearing the costs involved in providing its services to more than forty of its operators. Omar Subedar, Chief Operating Officer of the HMA, commented on the HMA’s responsibility to support the already hard-hit restaurant sector in whatever way possible, to ensure survival of the restaurants as well as the livelihood of many hard-working individuals.  According to the HMA, restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 have made it very...

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), member of the Islamic Development Bank Group announced the launch of a new trade development Waqf Fund (Fund) with an initial target capital of USD 50 million.  The purpose of the Fund is to support trade development projects in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member nations, as well as within Muslim communities in non-member countries. So far, the Fund has provided support to member countries primarily to combat the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, concentratio...

Following previous rating action taken in January 2020 and April 2020, the Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC) has extended its MARCWatch Developing placement on Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama’s (PLUS) MYR 23.35 billion Sukuk Musharakah Programme. The extension is reflective of the pending outcome of the negotiations on toll restructuring between the Government of Malaysia and the toll concessionaire. The negotiations are focused on addressing the implications from the 18% toll reduction (effective from the 1st of February 2020) on the toll concessionaire...