A report on Islamic banking issued by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has said global issuance of Islamic bonds will reach $30 billion this year, up from $20 billion in 2009.
According to the KFH report, the rising optimism over the health of the global economy as well the increasing popularity of Islamic banking products have propelled the global sukuk market. However, sukuk issuance is unlikely to breach the record $31 billion reached in 2007.
In 2008, the global sukuk tally was $14.1 billion.
The report also says the value of the Sukuk market touched $100billion in 2009.
Expectedly, growing interest for Islamic financial products in the Middle East and North Africa region has fuelled the rise in demand. Sukuk issuance in this region rose 235 per cent in the second quarter of the year over the same period in 2009. However, demand fell 24 percent in the Gulf region.
Malaysia continued to dominate the global sukuk market, the report says, contributing to 60.5 per cent of total value of sukuk issued in the first half of 2010. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia came second with a contribution of 14.1 per cent each.
