Sukuk issuances by Gulf-backed IILM top $9bn

International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), based in Malaysia and backed by central banks in the Gulf, has raised $9.3 billion across 37 sukuk (Islamic bond) issuances so far this year.

This week, IILM reissued $1.3 billion across five sukuk tranches with tenors ranging from two weeks to nine months, despite market volatility, the global issuer of sharia-compliant short-term liquidity instruments said in a statement.

Bids of $3 billion and an oversubscription of more than two times underscored the appetite for high-quality, short-term Islamic instruments, it said.

The current members of the IILM governing board are the central banks and monetary agencies of the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, as well as the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, the private sector development arm of the Islamic Development Bank based in Saudi Arabia.

The IILM aims to facilitate cross-border liquidity for institutions offering Islamic financial services.

In 2013 Saudi Arabia’s central bank sold its shareholding in IILM, which was acquired by Qatar and Malaysia.

• UAE’s seven-year treasury sukuk oversubscribed
• Boursa Kuwait approved to list bonds and sukuk
• Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait sell $7bn of bonds privately