The Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) is issuing $100 million worth of Islamic leasing bonds (sukuk). The issue of Ijara sukuk carries a maturity of five years. The issue date is April 2, 2003 and the maturity date is April 2, 2008.
The issue carries a rating of A- from international rating agency, Standard & Poor's (S&P). The rental return on the sukuk will be 3.25 percent, to be paid twice a year on October 2 and April 2 each year.
The sukuk will be allocated on pro-rata basis. Minimum subscription has been set at $10,000, which is also the par value of each bond. The bonds will be listed and traded on the Bahrain Stock Exchange. They can also be traded at prevailing market prices, over-the-counter through the participating banks.
BMA will receive subscriptions for the sukuk from March 23 - 30. All commercial banks, Islamic financial institutions and national insurance companies operating in Bahrain are allowed to subscribe to the sukuk. Individual and institutional investors can also subscribe through the participating institutions.
This is the sixth offering of Ijara sukuk to be made by the BMA. It replaces a 40 million Bahraini dinar ($) offering of conventional government bonds, which was originally planned for as part of the Government debt calendar for this year.
All five previous offerings of Ijara sukuk have been well received by the market and were heavily oversubscribed. BMA is is the first central bank to issue Islamic bonds. A rolling program of monthly issuance of short-term securities, Sukuk Al-Salam, has been in place since June 2001. It complements the medium and long term leasing securities. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
