The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has postponed the second review of its USD 6 billion bailout package for Pakistan, citing shortcomings in implementing agreed actions from Pakistan's end. Pakistan had approached the IMF in 2018 for a bailout package to revive its cash strapped economy. The Executive board of the IMF approved the same in June 2019 to assist Pakistan overcome its debt burdens, as well as to fend off a balance of payment crisis, subject to stringent measures.  In February 2020, Pakistan and the IMF agreed that the fund's Execu...

A revision in Indonesia’s State Budget puts Indonesia’s deficit spending forecast at IDR 1 quadrillion (USD 62 billion) in 2020, a significant increase from its original target of IDR 351.9 billion.  Finance Minister (FM), Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated that the Government of Indonesia is seeking low-cost funding sources, with Government debt papers considered to be the most appropriate. The FM stated that the Government was planning to offer IDR 549.6 trillion in sovereign debt papers (an increase from the initial IDR 389.3 trillion), a...

Fitch Ratings (Fitch) suggests that a more effective Islamic repurchase agreements (Repo market) would assist in improving funding and liquidity profiles of Islamic banks, by providing an additional source of secure, low-risk, short-term financing.  Fitch states that this would be particularly beneficial under the current economic conditions, leading to increased liquidity stress, and believes this would also support earnings generation for Islamic banks as the collateral held would support a lower cost of f...

National Takaful Company (Watania) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched a new digital platform based on blockchain technology for the processing of motor claims from other insurance companies, which is expected to bring in time and cost benefits. Dr. Ali Saeed bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Watania, said that the company had launched and implemented several new initiatives in 2019 to enhance its overall performance. He added that Watania was among the first in the UAE to subscribe to...

Saudi Arabia (KSA) based Al Babtain Power and Telecommunication Company (Al Babtain) has inked a four-year Murabahah facility worth SAR 150 million with Samba Financial Group of KSA. Al Babtain aims to use these funds to settle its short to medium term debts, which will free up the liquidity required for the company’s future requirements, as per a disclosure provided by Al Babtain to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). It is also worth noting that Al Babtain entered a SAR 100 million worth Murabahah financing...

Jimah East Power (JEP), the Malaysian-based power generation company saw its MYR 8.98 billion Sukuk Murabahah’s AA-IS rating affirmed by Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC), with its Outlook Stable.    The affirmation is driven by the expectation of predictable cash flows from the power plant, a manageable repayment profile that matches JEP's availability-based revenue structure under the 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), operational and financial relationship with TN...

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced that the monthly issuance of Islamic government short-term Sukuk (Sukuk Al-Ijara) for April 2020 has been oversubscribed.  In a press release on its website, CBB stated that the BHD 26 million Sukuk issuance attracted subscriptions worth BHD 47.957 million, resulting in an oversubscription of 184%.  CBB stated that the Sukuk will be for a period of 6 months and expected to mature on the 8th of October 2020. This Sukuk will carry a higher profit rate of 2.70% compared to the previous...

The number of Shariah compliant firms in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has increased to 52 during the period ending March 2020, compared to the 48 firms that were listed during the previous review. A list of Shariah-compliant firms issued by the PSE included six new Shariah-compliant entities, while two securities had been removed. Both securities that were removed from the PSE pertained to ATN Holdings Inc. while the 6 new entrants were: Axelum Resources Corp, IPM Holdings Inc., ISM Communication...

Saudi Arabia based Albilad Capital (Albilad) has announced that it has rebalanced the basket containing Saudi Arabia’s sovereign trading fund for Sukuk, as per the provisions of the fund’s benchmark.  In a statement published in the Tadawul, the rebalancing had taken place on the 6th of April 2020. In August 2019, the Capital Market Authority approved Albilad’s request to offer and register units of the Al Bilad Fund for Saudi sovereign Sukuk in the Tadawul as a floating index investment fund, whos...

In an attempt to revive the economy impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and to address the country’s health crisis, the Government of Indonesia (Government) will be raising nearly IDR 450 trillion in ”Pandemic Securities”. This requirement comes in the wake of a decline in demand for Government bonds, as foreign investors have pulled out of the tradable Government bonds market, in the wake of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The Government will also raise its bond sales target by IDR 160.2 trillion to IDR 549.6 t...