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By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent
Riyadh: The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), which groups 56 Muslim countries, Thursday launched its fund raising drive through the sale of Islamic bonds (sukuk) amounting to $500 million (Dh1.83 billion). Mohammad Tareq, director of the Treasury Department at IDB, said that the Saudi capital Riyadh is the first destination of the tour of the bank’s delegation to promote sukuk sales. The seven-day tour will also take the delegation to six other countries, including non-members of the bank. They are the UAE, Malaysia, Brunei Tanzania, Britain, Singapore and Switzerland.

According to Tareq, proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the bank’s projects in member countries.”The total amount to be raised during the drive will depend on the desire of investors and the condition of the sukuk market,” he said. Islamic bond sales fell 21 per cent to $3.4 billion this year after plunging 55 per cent last year.

Best Regards
ZULKIFLI HASAN
DURHAM UNIVERSITY

With Professor Abdul Ghafar Ismail and Mr. Taka of Hitotsubashi University, Kyoto, Japan