The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned that Pakistan’s economy will shrink in the range of 1.3% to 2.2% in the current fiscal year, while the State Bank of Pakistan also believes that it may have to revise the country's growth indicators downwards. It is almost certain that exports would not improve during the final quarter of the current fiscal year, as many large-scale manufacturing industries have still not started operating due to the restrictions imposed to counter the spread of COVID-19. Mian Anjum Nisar,...

Indonesia’s debt is expected to remain sustainable this year at a debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of below 40%, despite a significant rise in the planned issuance of Government securities to finance Indonesia’s unexpected state spending caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB’s Indonesia Country Economist, Yurendra Basnett, stated that Indonesia entered the COVID-19 crisis with one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world, although the fall in the Government of Indonesi...

Indonesia’s Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati has stated that the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is ready to help Indonesia with emergency funding of up to USD 250 million as COVID-19 relief. According to the Finance Minister, the assistance was confirmed during a teleconference between herself and the IsDB President, Bandar Hajjar, which discussed the Government of Indonesia’s plans for health, social aid, and business incentives during the on-going pandemic. Sri Mulyani&...

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued a royal order instructing the Ministry of Justice to establish regulations to restrict the conduct of financial activity by illegitimate persons, in line with the Financial Companies Regulation Act. Dr Walid bin Mohammed Al-Samaani, the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, stated that the new regulations would aim to mitigate the manipulation of debtors’ defaults by unconstitutional methods that do not take into account the creditworthiness of the debtors.&nb...

The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) plans to draw up a lucrative incentive scheme to attract foreign investors. The Chairman of BEZA, Paban Chowdhury, stated that the Authority has already submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister’s office on how Bangladesh can offer policy support and incentives to foreign investors. As per the BEZA proposal, foreign companies that relocate their operations to Bangladesh in the post COVID-19 era will be provided with several lucrative incentives including permission to import used machinery for their...

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) stated that there were no further updates on its acquisition of Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank (AUB). This statement came about following reports that the Ministry of Finance of Kuwait had requested a feasibility study into the viability of merger amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, following KFH’s decision to delay the deal.  In a statement to Boursa Kuwait, KFH stated that in 2019 the management and general assemblies of both banks had previously approved the acquisition’s due dili...

Independent power producer, SPR Energy (SPR) saw the AA3/Stable rating on its MYR 580 million Sukuk Ijarah program being reaffirmed by RAM Ratings (RAM). RAM reported that the rating affirmation on this Sukuk reflects the much-improved operational performance of SPR, which in turn has improved SPR’s debt-servicing ability. According to RAM, SPR’s finance service coverage ratio (FSCR) has limited headroom for its current rating of the Sukuk, due to the problems faced by the company in its initial four years of operation (...

Najran Cement Company (NCC) has reached an agreement with Bank Aljazira on a SAR 355 million Shariah-compliant financing facility.  The financing facility will be used to repay SAR 355 million of Sukuk outstanding from SAR 400 million Sukuk issued on the 14th of June 2015. The SAR 400 million Sukuk, which carries a profit rate of 1.4%, was set to mature in June 2020. According to the Islamic Markets Sukuk Monitor, NCC issued SAR 400 million Sukuk, at a profit rate of 1.4% for a period of 5 years. On the 12th&nb...

The Government of Malaysia is optimistic that Islamic tourism has the potential to produce higher returns for the country's tourism industry and to create Malaysia as the key Islamic tourism destination once COVID-19 is eradicated. Malaysia’s Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri (the Minister), stated that she was confident that Malaysia's Islamic tourism sector can bounce back higher following COVID-19. Realizing its potential, the Minister said that the Islamic Tourism Center (ITC) will continue to introduce numerous programs to identify poss...

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure the continuation of the collaboration between the two organizations for a period of another three years. According to the IFSB, a continuing collaboration implies both institutions' dedication to raising awareness and fostering sound Islamic finance activities on the basis of their immense ability to advance the financial services industry. It also added that the signing of the MoU was intended towards continuing, ...