IslamicFinance.de

Volumes of sovereign sukuk have increased significantly over the last three years as governments in Asia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Europe and now Africa seek to tap increased demand for Sharia-compliant financial assets. However a large portion of these issuance is denominated in local currencies, according to Moody’s. In the medium term, these international issuances will remain driven by sovereign and government-related issuers from the GCC countries because of their US dollar currency pegs. According to Moody’s estimates global sukuk issuance this year will exceed the 2013 level to reach around $70 billion, with sovereign issuance increasing to around $30 billion this year.