Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia sold $1 billion
of seven- year Shariah-compliant bonds at half the borrowing cost of its
previous sale in 2009, reflecting investor optimism that the nation may
win an investment-grade debt rating.
The dollar-denominated securities sold at 4
percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The sale targeted a rate of
4.25 percent, said a person familiar with the transaction, who asked not
to be identified as the details are private. The nation’s debut sukuk,
$650 million worth of five-year debt, was issued in April 2009 at 8.8
percent. (source)
Indonesia’s foreign-exchange reserves have more
than doubled since 2009, while the government of President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono is targeting economic growth of 6.5 percent this year,
the fastest since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Standard &
Poor’s raised Indonesia’s foreign-currency rating to BB+ in April, with a
positive outlook, signaling the country may be on the verge of winning
investment-grade status.
“There is a lot of interest in Indonesian
assets,” Mohd Noor Hj A Rahman, chief executive officer at OSK-UOB
Islamic Fund Management Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur, said in an interview
yesterday. “People believe Indonesia will be investment grade sometime
in the near future. It will add to the overall liquidity and it will be
good for the sukuk market.”
This week’s sale was about six
times oversubscribed, according to a person familiar
with the transaction who asked not to be identified in accordance with
policy. Indonesia’s 2009 sale drew bids totaling $4.7 billion.
Investment Grade Target
HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Standard
Chartered Plc managed the sale. The government expects to reach
investment grade this year, Vice Finance Minister Anny Ratnawati said on
April 14. Sukuk pay asset returns to comply with Islam’s ban on
interest.
The yield on the 8.8 percent bonds due April 2014
was little changed at 3.35 percent as of 7:34 a.m. in Jakarta,
according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices.
Global sukuk sales reached $20.6 billion so far
this year, up from $14.3 billion in the same period of 2010 and
approaching the record $31 billion in 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg
show. Average yields on the debt dropped 94 basis points in 2011 to 3.80
percent on Nov. 11, according to the HSBC/NASDAQ Dubai US Dollar Sukuk
Index.
Indonesia’s local-currency sukuk offerings
dropped to 2.3 trillion rupiah ($257 million) since June 30, from 14
trillion rupiah in the first six months of the year, as Europe’s debt
crisis damped demand for higher-yielding assets.
--With assistance from Drew Benson and Veronica Espinosa in New York,
Sarah McDonald in Sydney and Khalid Qayum in Singapore. Editor: Glenn
J. Kalinoski, Sandy Hendry
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Elffie Chew in Kuala Lumpur at echew16@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry in Hong Kong at shendry@bloomberg.net.
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