The Islamic banking sector in Oman witnessed a strong financing growth of 11% in 2019, with total financing recorded at OMR 4 billion, according to data provided by local press reports. By the end of 2019, Islamic banking accounted for 13.9% of the country’s overall banking system assets, since its commencement in 2012.The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast Oman’s GDP to stand at 3.7% in 2020, following the stagnation in 2019. The Assistant General Manager (AGM) of Investment, Treasury and Project Finance at Bank Nizwa, Mr. Saif Al Rawahi, is confident...

The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia announced a USD 13 billion (SAR 50 billion) financial program which will be funded by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.The program will grant SMEs a six-month deferral on bank payments, exemptions from the costs of a loan guarantee programme, and concessional financing.  The package aims to assist the SMEs to cope with the on-going impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.Other measures taken by the Kingdom to limit the spread of the virus are the suspension of all visas for the Umrah pilgrimage, and a lock-down on its Eastern Qatif region that has a large...

Data issued by Bank Indonesia (BI) showed that the country’s foreign debt, including borrowings by the government and the private sector, increased 7.5% YoY to reach USD 410.8 billion in January 2020. BI noted that this was slower than the 7.7% YoY recorded in December 2019.The government’s foreign debt, which consists of those raised by the central bank, BI, grew 9.5% YoY in January 2020 to USD 207.8 billion.This increase in government foreign debt was driven by the issuance of USD 2 billion in dollar-denominated bonds, as well as EUR 1 billion (USD 1.1 billion) of debt papers...

President of the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBFIM), Datuk Adissadikin Ali highlighted that the overall banking sector could experience slower financing growth led by lower economic growth due to Covid-19 and lower oil prices.He noted that banks had announced relief measures to ease any negative pressure on asset quality and profitability in the near-term and added that stable credit profiles along with sufficient loss absorption buffers of Islamic banks would provide additional support.However, he highlighted that the Islamic banking industry toget...

Information-technology company Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS) in Saudi Arabia has amended and renewed its SAR 60 million Murabahah credit facility agreement with Gulf National Bank. In its statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), MIS stated that the funds from the one-year Murabahah facility would go towards financing new projects. The facility, which is guaranteed by a promissory note, commenced on the 11th of March 2020, and will end on the 10th of March 2021.  On the 12th of December 2019, MIS amended another of its...

RAM Ratings re-confirmed its AAA rating on CJ Capital’s (CJC) MYR 114 million Sukuk Murabahah (2010/2020), which is set to mature later in 2020. The ratings agency also re-confirmed its Stable outlook on the Sukuk. The re-affirmation comes on the back of CJC consistently meeting its financial obligations, supported by timely and continuous annuity payments from the Johor State Government.  CJ Capital received the last annuity payment in January 2019, a month in advance, and with this, all outstanding dues on the Sukuk are fully paid.  ...

According to the IslamicMarkets Sukuk Monitor, Malaysian property developer Mah Sing Group (the Group) announced that the proceeds from its MYR 600 million Sukuk Murabahah will be used to finance the Group’s land banking, investments and working capital, as well as for the refinancing of borrowings and/or the redeeming of its unrated perpetual securities. The Sukuk issuance, which is part of the Group’s MYR 1 billion Sukuk Murabahah programme, was oversubscribed and is secured by Group-owned assets, as well as certa...

The Central Bank (CB) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced an AED 100 billion stimulus package to support the economy and ensure sufficient liquidity within the banking sector.  The CB stated that all banks would be able to utilise up to 60% of their capital conservation buffers, with this ratio at 100% for the systematically important banks. The stimulus package also looks to lower the holding capital requirement of banks for loans to SMEs, by 15-25%. The financial assistance should allow the banks to maintain sound lending sta...

Finance Minister of Indonesia, Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced a variety of tax benefits that will be offered for a period of six months starting April 2020. These incentives are aimed at supporting employees, manufacturers and importers amidst the challenges imposed by the novel COVID-19 outbreak. The Ministry of Finance Indonesia (MOFI) will waive the income taxes paid by manufacturing sector entrepreneurs earning less than IDR 200 million per year and will also suspend collection of employees’ income taxes.  Import taxes...

Secretary of Pakistan’s Power Division, Irfan Ali confirmed that the initial decision to invite competitive bids for PKR 200 billion under its Sukuk-II issuance has been revoked, citing that the bids came in on the higher side.  Under the competitive bids system, a consortium of banks bid for the entire PKR 200 billion at a rate of KIBOR+0.78.  The Power Division is now looking to invite individual bids from other banks that showed interest in offering loans at a lower rate. The smaller individual banks will participate in the bidding process by offering smaller l...