Rating agency Standard and Poor's says regulation and fiscal incentives could speed Sharia compliant finance development in Africa. The report further noted that African sovereigns have issued only about $1 billion of Sukuk instruments, compared with global Sukuk issuance of an average $100 billion per year over the past five years. »
The Sukuk market is likely to receive a much-needed boost as Iran, home to the world’s biggest Islamic banking sector, with assets estimated at $482 billion, and the fourth largest crude oil reserves returns to the world capital markets. »
Saudi Arabia makes Bond Sales to Fund Deficit, Saudi Arabia makes Bond Sales to Fund Deficit and Islamic Bank Finances Surge 107% in Oman. »
Jeremy Awori, MD Barclays Kenya stated Sharia compliant products should be seen in the context of the merits of their structure as opposed to being seen from a faith based perspective. He added risk management is easier when dealing with Sharia compliant structures due to core assets being used within the financing framework. »
Islamic banking has landed in Germany. The first bank to open in the country managed by the Islamic Sharia law has established its first office in Frankfurt, home to the ECB. »
Sovereign Update: Net foreign assets contracted for four quarters in a row to USD664.4bn in Jun-15, falling by USD72.6bn since their peak in Aug-14; Expectations of higher government debt of USD5.3bn to reduce their elevated budget deficit amid falling oil revenues, continuing government expenditure and war in Yemen. »
Respected UK journalist Peter Osborne dug deep to discover use of a "World Check" Thomson Reuters database being used to blacklist UK Muslims. The World Check database is nothing more than a trawl of public information from sources such as Wikipedia and blogs. »
SOVEREIGN UPDATES: Fuel subsidies on gasoline and diesel will be abolished by 24% and 29% respectively effective 3rd August. We believe the rationalisation of subsidies could help to bolster government finance from plunge in global oil prices (as the government revenue has fallen about 50% in 2014) and would benefit the economy in the long run. »
The inaugural Symposium of GIFDC is a 2-day event and will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. The theme of the symposium is Islamic Finance: A catalyst for Shared Prosperity. The concept of risk-sharing in financial and social contracts is one of the unique features of Islamic Finance while shared prosperity advocates for an economic and financial system that mobilize and allocate resources to the most ... »
Speaking at a conference in Singapore, Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore listed a number of key trends which can help boost cross border Sharia compliant trade between Asia and the Middle East. »
