First sukuk issuance coming next FY, Maait confirms
** #3 First sovereign sukuk issuance coming next fiscal year, Maait confirms: Egypt’s first sovereign issue of Sharia-compliant sukuks in FY2019-2020, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait confirmed to Reuters. The minister did not disclose the expected size of the issuance. A senior government official had told us earlier this week that the Finance Ministry is looking at regulatory amendments that would pave the way for the issuance of a sovereign sukuk offering as early as 2019.
Background: Maait had told us in September that the government was unlikely to issue sukuks this fiscal year as there remains no legislative framework in place allowing it. Recent legislative and regulatory changes allowed sukuk for corporates, but did not explicitly authorize sovereign issues. Plans to issue sukuk have been shelved since 2013, but the ministry believes the bonds — which could be issued in USD or EUR, if the new regulatory amendments come into effect — could be an integral part of its long-term debt-management strategy.