Exclusive: Egypt to issue $1 billion sukuk in FY2017/18

Egyptian government is planning to issue a U.S. dollar sukuk worth $1 billion later in the financial year 2017/2018, said Mohammed Maeit – Deputy Finance Minister for Public Treasury.

“As part of the financial year 2017/2018 budget, the government seeks to issue a $1 billion sukuk after passing the Islamic bond issuance law.” Maeit told Amwal Al Ghad on Tuesday.

In 2012, a law was issued to regulate the issuance of sukuk by both the government and the private sector, but still pending since then for never-ending amendments.

Egypt had been moving toward a sale of sukuk under former president Mohamed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood administration planned to boost the Shariah-compliant industry with an initial issue of $1 billion of notes. A sukuk law approved by the government in 2013 was never implemented. “Nobody wants to touch it,” Sherif Samy, the chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, said in August 2014.