IsDB hires banks for dollar sukuk
Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank has hired banks for a potential sale of US dollar-denominated five-year sukuk, or Islamic bonds.
The triple-A rated financial institution has mandated Citi, Credit Agricole, Emirates NBD Capital, Gulf International Bank, HSBC, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, Natixis, Societe Generale, and Standard Chartered to arrange the issuance, subject to market conditions.
IsDB will use the money raised to fund sustainable projects, including employment generation and financing small and medium enterprises, as well as to support education programmes, according to an investor presentation seen by Reuters.
The bank’s approved funding for 2020 is $5.5 billion, more than half of which has been secured. The bulk of IsDB’s issuances have been in dollars or euros, which it will continue to tap while rates are attractive. But in future it also aims to issue in other currencies; in February it placed its first Chinese yuan issuance privately.
