CBJ to release Islamic sukuk worth JD34m

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Wednesday announced it will release the first sovereign issue of Islamic sukuk to fund the government's special purpose vehicle projects.

The sukuk (Islamic bonds) will be released for the Jordan Company for Islamic Sukuk, a fully government-owned company that was established to issue Islamic sukuk, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a statement, the CBJ said the value of the new issue is JD34 million for a five-year term, to be issued on October 17, 2016 and due on October 17, 2021.

The release of the sukuk follows the decisions of authorisation by the Jordan Securities Commission's board of commissioners and the Central Sharia Monitoring Commission.

The CBJ expected these sukuks' revenues (Ijara) to stand at 3 per cent, with paying revenues, after adding a percentage of the sukuk value, via 10 equal payments on April 17 and October 17 of each year.

The bonds will target Islamic and non-Islamic banks, saving, investment and pension funds, insurance companies, and the Social Security Corporation.

The issuance is released in cooperation between the government, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, with the CBJ being the issuance manager and the Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank being the secretary of the issuance, Petra added.