The Capital Market Authority’s (CMA) decision on Monday to allow foreign companies to list securities on the Tadawul exchange provides a great opportunity for global firms to benefit from the huge liquidity and savings available in the Saudi economy, analysts said. The decision may also help the region’s equity markets lure investors and boost trading volumes, they added. The new plan takes Kingdom a step closer to direct ownership for overseas investors. The CMA announced Monday that it was am
airly secured against the weakening situation in Europe, and with solid fiscal foundations to sustain its domestic economy should the need arise, the Kingdom is looking forward to 2012 with a degree of expectation, particularly as its investment programs start to bear fruit. The Kingdom looks set to maintain its solid growth this year, recent data have suggested. Public and private sector analysts monitor changes in money supply because of its possible effects on the price level, inflati
Middle East and Malaysia are expected to fuel a major spurt in global sukuk issuance in 2012 to an estimated $44 billion, up 66 per cent on 2011, experts on Islamic bond market said. Mohammed Dawood, managing director of Islamic global markets, Europe, Middle East and Africa for HSBC Amanah, said the dramatic increase in sukuk issuance has been triggered by Islamic bonds’ remarkable performance amid the global meltdown. “We expect a significant increase in sukuk issuance this year because it p
The consensus seems to be universal that the outlook for the sukuk market in 2012 is bright. While Malaysia and Southeast Asia seems to be setting the pace, there are signs that the sukuk sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets and a few fellow MENA countries such as Turkey are showing a rebound, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE offering the best potential. Sukuk structuring experts such as Mohamad Safri Shahul Hamid, a senior executive of CIMB Islamic Bank, stress that the (Malaysian