S&P halves its global sukuk sales forecast

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA is cutting sales of Syariah- compliant bills in the world's biggest Islamic debt market, prompting Standard & Poor's (S&P) to halve its forecast for global sukuk issuance.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) hasn't sold any Islamic securities due in three to 12 months in 2015, after issuing RM146 billion (S$52.2 billion) of the bills last year, central bank data show. While the monetary authority said in a statement that outstanding issuance of sukuk has decreased, it's now focusing on shorter-dated maturities in both the Syariah-compliant and conventional money markets to help banks manage cash flows.