Sukuk Size to be between $500m to $1 Billion

The Ministry of Finance of the Government of Pakistan intends to issue a Sovereign Sukuk and has issued a request for expression of interest for the appointment of a lead manager. The proposed Sukuk will be issued in US Dollars for a value of between $500 million to $1 billion.

Interested parties are invited to submit proposals to the Assistant Economic Advisor (EF C-III), at Room 229, Q Block, Finance Division, Pak Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan. Phone: +92 51 9203313 Fax: +92 51 9210835.

Pakistan’s Return to Market

The proposed Sukuk would be the Government of Pakistan’s third US dollar issuance. It last issued in November 2014 with a 5 year $1 billion issuance priced at 6.75%. Separate from its US dollar sukuk the South Asian nation has issued in domestically denominated Rupee, most recently with a Rs113.7 billion issuance in June 2014.

Other Market Developments

Earlier this week Sharjah Islamic Bank also announced plans to issue a US dollar-denominated Sukuk, while Khazanah Nasional, the Malaysian sovereign fund, is considering selling $500 million of exchangeable Sukuk according to a report by Bloomberg. An exchangeable sukuk is one which can be exchanged into shares.