In a recent television interview, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin estimated daily losses of MYR 2.4 billion for the country, resulting from businesses remaining closed due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed by the Government of Malaysia in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. While stating that the Government has reluctantly imposed the MCO, despite knowing that it would hinder Malaysia’s economic growth, the Prime Minister added that a month’s delay in taking the steps already taken by the Government would have led to an ad...

Two of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) seven Emirates, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) have had their outlooks downgraded from ‘Stable’ to ‘Negative’ by  S&P Global Ratings (S&P). S&P has downgraded these two Emirates citing the financial implications of lower oil prices as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.  S&P noted that it expects the economies of Sharjah and RAK to contract respectively, by 3% and 2% in 2020, due to lower oil prices and the COVID-19 outbreak. On a positive note, S&P predicted that both economies would recover in 2021. ...

In its efforts to support Indonesia’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 1.5 billion loans to Indonesia, to be used towards the economy and public health. In a statement made on the 23rd of April 2020, Masatsugu Asakawa, the ADB President, stated that the global pandemic had a devastating economic, health and social impact on Indonesia. He also urged the Government of Indonesia to implement well-coordinated and strong economic and fiscal measures to respond to the crisis. He went on to comme...

With over 2.4 Million positive cases and more than 165,000 lives claimed within an alarmingly short period of time, the fact that COVID-19 has and is continuing to have a catastrophic impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions world over, is not an understatement.On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic, sending multiple nations into weeks of lockdown and forcing global economic activities to come to a screeching halt. Markets, trade and supply chain activities have all been impacted alike.In the recently published World Uncer...

Bangladesh-based Midland Bank Limited (MBL) started to provide Shariah-based banking from its Gulshan Branch Islamic Banking Window (IBW), at a ceremony held at Dhaka Bank's headquarters on the 23rd of April 2020. Through the new offering, customers can avail all Shariah-compliant banking products through IBW and obtain the service from all MBL branches, including MBL’s digital platforms. MBL has named its Islamic banking platform ‘Midland Bank Salaam’. MBL Chairperson, Nilufer Zafarullah, formally launched the service via video conferencing at a meeti...

United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Emirates Real Estate Investment Trust (Emirates REIT) is considering to buy back approximately USD 400 million worth outstanding Sukuk to improve its balance sheet.  This decision is being considered in the light of the impact of COVID-19 on the property market in Dubai, UAE, as real estate investment firms across the region were already grappling with an oversupplied market and sluggish demand. Sylvain Vieujot, the Chief Executive Officer of Emirates REIT had stated that the Sukuk repurchase was discussed d...

Saudi British Bank (SABB) has informed Tadawul that it is preparing to fully redeem its SAR 1.5 billion Tier 2 Sukuk at face value on the 31st of May 2020, before its maturity date. SABB has obtained the required approval for the early redemption of its ten-year Sukuk, which was due to mature on the 28th of May 2025. The statement added that the redemption amount along with the profit for the current period ending May 2020 will be distributed to Sukukholders on the above date based on their respective holdings as of the 20th of April 2020.&nb...

Patrick Allman-Ward, the Chief Executive Officer of the United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas, has informed Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange that proceeds from selling its Egypt assets will be utilized to pay USD 397 million of outstanding Sukuk, which will be matured in October 2020. Earlier in April, Dana Gas announced that its intentions to sell Egyptian properties were on hold due to the COVID-19 situation, but promised that the company would not withdraw from the deal. When the assets referred to above are sold, the proceeds shall be used to pay the Sukuk a...

In line with its revised auction schedule for Ijara Sukuk, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) held an auction for a five-year Variable Interest Rate Government of Pakistan (GOP) Ijara Sukuk and successfully raised PKR 76.384 billion. The auction generated bids worth PKR 190.305 billion against an auction target of PKR 75 billion at a range margin for the bids between -250 and -75 basis points (bps). Earlier on the 15th of April 2020, the GOP rejected all bids received for the auction of GOP Ijara Sukuk as it had reduced the policy rate by 200 basis points (bps). This au...

Malaysia’s Prime Minister (PM), Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, announced that Putrajaya is looking at a framework to be implemented to revive the country, once the Movement Control Order has been lifted.  The PM stated that the Ministry of Finance, the Economic Planning unit, and the PM’s Department will be responsible for drafting a comprehensive short-term, mid-term and long-term Economic Revival Plan to help repaid Malaysia’s financial standing.  Short-and medium-term initiatives will be given priority, aimed at boosting economic...