IslamicFinance.de

Malaysian companies building railways and power plants under Prime Minister Najib Razak’s $444 billion development program will help revive sukuk sales from the slowest quarter since 2010. Corporate issuance could rise to as much as 60 billion ringgit ($13.5 billion) for the full year, said Mohd. Effendi Abdullah, head of Islamic markets at Kuala Lumpur-based AmInvestment Bank. While the forecast would mark a pickup from the 31.5 billion ringgit sold so far this year, offerings would still remain below levels for the past three. Effendi said sukuk issuers that need the funds will still go ahead with sales even if market conditions are tough because they can structure longer-maturity debt to appeal to pension funds and insurers.