IslamicFinance.de

Algeria plans to issue its first sukuk next year as it seeks new funding sources after a fall in energy earnings. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said the government would introduce Islamic financial services at two state banks before the end of this year and four others in 2018. The North African country had rejected sharia-based financing options after a war with Islamist movements that killed about 200,00 people in the 1990s. But financial difficulties have prompted the government to speed up implementation of reforms. Algerian firms rely heavily on state spending, which in turn depends on the hydrocarbons sector. The government also aims to modernise the stock market, which is now smaller than those in neighbouring Morocco and Tunisia.