Kazakhstan to pass law to allow company sukuk sales
ASTANA. January 17. KAZINFORM Kazakhstan's government expects to pass legislation within the next two months that would enable companies to sell Islamic bonds, said Deputy Prime Minister Asset Issekeshev.
The first corporate sukuk may be sold in dollars globally, Issekeshev told reporters at a conference in Abu Dhabi. The country has delayed plans to offer sovereign Islamic debt because the government doesn't need the funds, he said.
Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic that last sold international debt in 2000, planned to sell securities that comply with Islam's ban on interest payments in the second half of 2010, Aibek Bekzhanov, head of Islamic instruments at the Regional Financial Center of Almaty , a government agency set up to develop the country's capital markets, said July 27. The Finance Ministry said July 20 it canceled plans to sell $750 million of global bonds, Kazinform cites Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dana El Baltaji in Dubai at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net