Islamic finance to resume rapid growth: Standard & Poor’s
Standard & Poor’s today announced the release of Islamic Finance Outlook 2009, its latest annual compendium of topical research and commentaries on Islamic finance. The new yearbook includes Standard & Poor’s latest analysis and rating methodologies on almost 40 rated Islamic debt issues and issuers, and an overview of its suite of global benchmark and investable Sharia indices.
While total global sukuk issuance more than halved to $14.9 billion in 2008 from $34 billion in the previous year, Standard & Poor’s believes the outlook for Islamic finance remains strong. Sharia-compliant assets now total about $700 billion after growth exceeding 10% annually during the past decade.
"The sukuk market suffered heavily in 2008 but we believe the outlook for asset-backed sukuk is positive, despite the doubts raised by the disruption in global financial markets and in structured finance," said Mohamed Damak, credit analyst at Standard & Poor begin pulling out of the downturn, we expect Islamic finance to resume its rapid growth. The long-term pipeline for sukuk issuance is healthy, and the market is attracting interest from an increasing number of issuers in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries."
Islamic Finance Resource 