The local Sukuk market, which suffered a huge drop in volume due to the global economic meltdown, should recover with issuance of not less than RM30 billion (US$8.53 billion) this year, said Mohd Effendi Abdullah, director and head of Islamic capital market at Aminvestment Bank. Last year, Malaysia only issued RM22 billion (US$6.26 billion) worth of Sukuk.

His optimism is based on the local stock market rebound, the relatively stable economy as well as the yet-to-be-approved Sukuk issuances about to enter the market. “In the next nine months, I will not be surprised if Sukuk issues increase beyond RM40 billion (US$11.34 billion) to even RM50 billion (US$14.18 billion).”

Aminvestment is the world’s second largest manager of Islamic bonds after CIMB Investment. It arranged 17 Sukuk deals worth US$1.14 billion between April last year and last month.

Among its landmark joint-arrangement deals this year were the RM450 million (US$127.61 million) Islamic securities program for Pinnacle Tower, the RM2.2 billion (US$623.75 million) Islamic medium-term notes for Penerbangan Malaysia, RM1.5 billion (US$423.57 million) Sukuk Musharakah for Putrajaya Holdings andRM10 billion (US$2.83 billion) multi-currency Islamic securities program for Danga Capital. omar1.1 iimm.bnm.gov.my