KUALA LUMPUR: Global sukuk issuance will likely reach US$85 billion-US$90 billion in 2017, driven by stronger issuance from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.Notably, sukuk issuance was significantly boosted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), RAM Rating Services Bhd said in a statement on Thursday.Driven by their budget deficits, it said Saudi Arabia and its GCC neighbours had raised sukuk worth US$42billion at end-October, up 215.3% from a year ago.Malaysia, meanwhile, recorded RM138.7 billion (+20.6% y-o-y) worth of sukuk issuance as at end-October, which exceeded RAM's full-year projection of RM100 billion-–RM120 billion for the local currency market.The growth was led by increased issuance by the quasi-government (+32.2% or RM38.2 billion), government (+17.7% or RM46.5 billion) and corporate (+17.7% or RM54.0 billion) sectors.RAM said Bank Negara's decision to maintain the overnight policy rate at 3% at its November meeting could spur more sukuk issuance by year's end after hinting that monetary policy might be tightened next year.

Source: The Star November 16, 2017 06:27 UTC