www.thejakartaglobe.com - The government plans to reallocate dormant hajj funds from the Finance
Ministry into project-based sukuk in order to help raise money for
urgently needed infrastructure development.
Project-based sukuk are Shariah-compliant government bonds backed by infrastructure projects.
“Now
[the money] is merely entrusted to the Finance Ministry. But it would
be better if it generated revenue from projects,” said Anggito Abimanyu,
director general of hajj pilgrimage management at the Religious Affairs
Ministry, adding that his institution managed Rp 44 trillion ($4.7
billion) in pilgrimage funds. (source)
The hajj money comes from
mandatory advance payments made by prospective pilgrims, who usually
must wait up to three years before they can travel to Mecca.
The
Religious Affairs Ministry began moving the pilgrimage funds into
government bonds in 2009 to help finance toll roads, railways and other
development projects. Previously, the money was invested in bank
deposits.
Investors can also be co-owners through an agreement
known as musyarakah , where buyers of the debt and the government
contribute funds in cash or in kind.
Anggito said he also wanted
to put ummah endowment funds — money the government generates from
managing hajj funds — into project-based instruments.
An
estimated 90 percent of Indonesia’s 240 million people are Muslims.
Islamic law requires those who are physically and financially able to
perform the hajj at least once in their life.
Last year, Saudi
Arabia established a quota of 211,000 pilgrims for Indonesia. There are
now 1.4 million Indonesians registered for the hajj, an almost sixfold
backlog of pilgrimage hopefuls.
Investor Daily
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/markets/indonesian-govt-to-put-idle-hajj-funds-in-development-bonds/532019 - July 23, 2012
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