The government is considering introducing Islamic banking in the country. The Ministry of Finance recently asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reconsider such a possibility.
The RBI formed a committee to look into the matter after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Malaysia in 2010, when Singh indicated that the government was open to the idea of a banking system that could address the long-standing concerns of the business section of a minority community………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Contrary to popular belief, Islamic finance or banking is not just for Muslims. It aims to lay the foundations of an ethical and fair financial system, which consequently affects the socio-economic conditions of the market it is implemented in. Islamic financing, hence, can aptly service everyone irrespective of religious beliefs, wealth, ethnicity, caste or creed.
Yet, this stance is not as clear as it should be in our country; much less in the outside world where centuries old financing methods are firmly embedded within the economic system………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In a bid to enhance small enterprises, the Social Fund for Development (SFD) and Al-Baraka Bank Egypt have signed a LE200 million deal to finance small enterprises. The financing deal is based on the Islamic Musharaka principle.
Ghada Wali, SFD secretary-general, speaking at a press conference said that the agreement aims at diversifying the fund’s services to include Sharia-compliant products to finance small projects which in turn would help create jobs and boost development………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Emirates Islamic Bank, or EIB, recently announced the launch of a banking package for new entrants to the UAE. The package includes personal and vehicle finance up to Dh75,000 and credit cards with one monthly salary limit, along with various account options and online banking facilities.
The special offers have been devised to facilitate new entrants to the UAE or new-to-Job employees to meet their financial commitments and settle into the new environment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) has successfully closed $380 million of Islamic Murabaha financing with Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) and Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB).
The joint arrangement is a big leap forward in enhancing co-operation between these two Islamic finance institutions, as the market demand for Shari’ah-compliant financial solutions continues to increase. QIB provided $180 million of Nakilat’s financing tranche, with QIIB providing the remaining $200 million. The signing ceremony was held at QIB’s headquarters………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indonesia, which has been running a budget deficit since the Asian monetary crisis more than a decade ago, plans to sell 11 percent more bonds next year to finance its budget shortfall. The government plans to raise total net bond sales to Rp 177.3 trillion ($19 billion) next year compared with Rp 159.6 trillion this year, with the country aiming to sell more notes even as the budget deficit is projected to narrow next year.
Deepening the debt market means the country has to offer more notes — such as regular notes, retail bond market and Islamic bonds — to the Indonesian market. Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim population, has been familiar with Islamic bonds or bills, known as sukuk………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The yield on Nakheel’s Islamic bonds declined the most among bonds in the Arabian Gulf as the state-controlled developer that restructured $16bn of debt benefits from a rebound in Dubai’s property market.
The yield on the 10% sukuk due August 2016 has tumbled 820 basis points, or 8.2 percentage points, this year to 10.1% on Wednesday. The yield fell to 9.5% on August 2, the lowest since the notes began trading in September. That is more than seven times the 105 basis-point drop in the average yield on Gulf Islamic bonds, according to the HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai GCC US Dollar Sukuk Index………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, announced that it has reaffirmed the rating of NIG Sukuk Company’s $475m Mudaraba Sukuk at ‘BBB-’. The Outlook for the rating is ‘Stable’.
Despite the deterioration of the financial standing of the Obligor and Mudarib, National Industries Group Holdings S.A.K., Kuwait (NIG), and its continued weak performance over the past two years, the Sukuk rating is affirmed based largely on the Company’s demonstrated ability to meet this Sukuk obligation. (Press Release)

RAM Rating Services Bhd has assigned a final long-term rating of AA1 to Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s proposed 10-year multi-currency Islamic medium-term notes programme of up to RM1bil, with a stable outlook.
It said on Friday it had reaffirmed the ratings of the integrated plantation group’s existing RM300mil Sukuk Ijarah commercial paper/MTN programme (2011/2016) at AA1/Stable/P1………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Research released today from BLME, the Islamic asset manager, has shown that 61% of UK investment advisers surveyed admitted their limited knowledge of Islamic fund providers has prevented them from recommending their products. This is despite the fact that nearly a fifth of respondents believed their clients would be interested in learning about Islamic funds.
The independent survey of 200 UK advisers was conducted by Core Data and commissioned by BLME to explore advisor attitudes to non-traditional investments. (Press Release)

Islamic finance players pay more attention to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member countries before venturing into other continents, says a banker. “We have to give priority to markets that naturally demand Islamic finance. That first priority should go instantly to OIC countries and secondly to Europe and the US,” said CIMB Islamic Bank CEO Badlisyah Abd Ghani.
He commented that probably due to trade linkages most Islamic finance players have been giving too much attention to markets like Europe and US………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The reduced energy levels - and working hours - of the month of fasting affects the stock markets. Strangely though, the effect of losing 20 hours worth of trading time on the Egyptian stock market is minimal, if anything.
Using data from the benchmark EGX30 index – which looks at the top 30 companies in terms of liquidity and activity - between the years 2000-2006 there is absolutely no correlation between the typical monthly percentage change in stock value and the percentage change in the month of Ramadan, but it does seem to suggest that the reduced trading times has increased the market’s volatility………………………………………..Full Article: Source