IslamicFinance.de

Pakistan Mobile Communications (Mobilink) plans to raise Rs6.9 billion ($68.6 million) via Islamic bonds this quarter. The sukuk will help fund the network expansion of Mobilink, a subsidiary of Global Telecom Holding, and majority-owned by Russia’s VimpelCom. The credit guarantee will be extended by Mauritius-based GuarantCo, a specialised financial guarantor, indirectly owned by the development agencies of Britain, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Credit guarantees for sukuk are rare because of the profit-sharing nature of Islamic finance, but they could prove to be an important development, attracting a wider range of corporate and sovereign issuers to the Islamic bond market.