Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) will jointly launch sales of Sovereign Islamic bonds to the international market at the end of this year or beginning of next year, announced Minister of Finance and Treasury Ahmed Munawar on Monday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) branch in reclaimed suburb Hulhumale, Minister Munawar declared that selling Sovereign Islamic bonds (sukuk) to the international market is imperative and will testify to the progress of Islamic Finance in the Maldives to foreign nations.
According to the minister, the state is developing an Islamic Financing Master Plan in collaboration with Islamic Development Bank which has been green-lighted by the bank and the Economic Council of the President’s Office.
He also disclosed that the government recently purchased stakes of the Islamic Bank to aid in its advancement, with plans to buy more shares in the future.
ICD owns 70 percent shares of the Islamic Bank, while the government owns 25 percent and insurance firm Amana Takaful owns five percent.
The minister added that the government wishes to advance the technology used in MIB and establish it as the strongest Islamic Bank in the SAARC region. He stated that MIB’s capital has increased to MVR 3 billion.
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