Jordan to issue Islamic sukuk worth JD250m

AMMAN — An issue of Islamic sukuk (bonds) worth around JD250 million is expected in the second quarter of 2016, Central Bank of Jordan Deputy Governor Maher Sheikh Hassan said on Monday.

“We have completed all the legal and the legislative measures for the issuance of the Islamic bonds. We are in the final stages of some more minor steps and we are then ready to conduct the sukuk issue any time,” Hassan told The Jordan Times on Monday.

An Islamic Sharia-compliant issuance totalling around JD150 million will be issued to cover the purchases of the National Electric Power Company, while another worth JD100 million will be conducted for the benefit of the Water Authority of Jordan.

“A company was registered for the purposes of the issuance of the Islamic bonds as required by law and we expect the issuance to take place in the second quarter of this year,” said the official.

In 2012, Parliament passed the Islamic Finance Sukuk Law to allow both public and private entities to issue Islamic bonds in dinars and in foreign currencies. In April this year, the government chose the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, an arm of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, to support the country’s debut for the planned domestic sukuk offering.