From Menafn.com: During the first half of 2009, GCC bonds and sukuk volume reached USD18.4 billion, an increase of 37% compared to the respective period of 2008.
The increase was fueled as a result of new issuances by either sovereign or corporations that are fully or largely owned by the governments, which together represented 92.1% of the total issuance during the period.
Nonetheless, H12009 volumes remain lower than half, 38.3%, of the total year volume peak of 2007………..Full Article: Source