IslamicFinance.de

Shariah-compliant funds in Pakistan say the government’s plan to end a year-long hiatus in local sukuk sales is too little, too late to plug a shortage of assets that has put off their investors. The finance ministry will sell rupee-denominated sukuk once 233.8bn rupees ($2.2bn) of notes mature on November 21. That would be the first offering since it raised 49.5bn rupees in June last year. While Pakistan issued global bonds twice in the past 12 months, it has neglected local investors. A sovereign credit-rating upgrade in June, record foreign-exchange reserves and a narrowing current-account deficit make it an opportune moment to return to the Islamic debt market, after its conventional dollar bond sale in September drew bids for twice the $500mn offered.