Saudi ArabiaXX; gulftech: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia overtook Malaysia as the world’s biggest issuer of sukuk and Islamic finance in 2021, according to data from Bloomberg’s Sukuk and Islamic Financing League Tables.
For the 12 months ending 31 December 2021, Saudi Arabia issued sukuk and Islamic financing totalling over $32 billion, compared with approximately $26 billion in Malaysia. This is the first time since 2018 that Saudi Arabia has topped global Sukuk and Islamic league tables. The United Arab Emirates rounded out the top three places with approximately $14 billion in total issuances.
Factors contributing to surge in sukuk and Islamic financing surge in Saudi Arabia during 2021 were government and corporate issuances increasing by 57% from 2020, with the largest single issuance coming from the government sukuk of approximately $3 billion issued in October 2021.
Green finance also played an increasingly prominent role in the Kingdom’s Islamic finance sector in 2021, with notable examples being a $2.5 billion sustainability sukuk issued by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) towards financing and refinancing green and social development projects eligible under its Sustainable Finance Framework. Sudair One Renewable Energy and Saudi Electricity were among some notable names that issued syndicated Islamic green loans in 2021.
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