IslamicFinance.de

Kazakhstan plans to attract up to $10 billion in Islamic finance over the next five to seven years, Arken Arystanov, chairman of the regulatory agency at the Regional Financial Centre of Almaty (RFCA) stated.

After a lengthy delay, the government is on track to issue Kazakhstan’s first sovereign sukuk, or Islamic bond, before the end of this year – a key step in the country’s desire to become a regional financial hub, says Arken Arystanov, head of the Regional Financial Centre of Almaty City (RFCA).
Amendments to Kazakhstan’s law on Islamic finance and banking, currently being considered by parliament, are due to be adopted within the next two months, Arystanov says, paving the way for the government to issue its debut sukuk - most likely in the $500m range - by the end of 2010.
It’s certainly true that for some Kazakh companies there has been no difficulty in raising money by traditional means recently. State nuclear company Kazatomprom’s debut Eurobond in May 2010 was eight times oversubscribed; the issue by national rail operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy in September was seven times oversubscribed.