SUKUK - Indonesia May Sell Retail Islamic Bonds Early February

Indonesia may sell retail Islamic bonds in the first week of February, Rahmat Waluyanto, director general of debt management at the Finance Ministry, said in an interview in Jakarta today.


“The size of the issue will depend on the ability of the banks and securities companies to distribute, as well as the value of the underlying assets,” Waluyantu said.


Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, uses government-owned land and buildings to back sukuk sales. An estimated 30 trillion rupiah ($3.3 billion) of these assets are available for the issuance of Islamic bonds, Waluyanto said.

The government sold 8.033 trillion rupiah of retail sukuk in February last year, more than the 3 trillion rupiah it had targeted.

Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is tapping individuals to widen its investor base and reduce dependence on overseas debt sales. Retail bonds are offered in amounts starting at 5 million rupiah to make them affordable to the general public, Waluyanto said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Suryani Omar in Jakarta at somar6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Greg Ahlstrand at gahlstrand@bloomberg.net


Source : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-11/indonesia-may-sell-retail-islamic-bonds-early-february-update1-.html - Jan 11, 2011