Egypt’s Sukuk law gains parliamentary seal of approval (By IFN)

Egypt’s Sukuk law gains parliamentary seal of approval

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EGYPT: The country’s uphill battle with its Sukuk draft law has finally been concluded with a parliamentary stamp of approval. The long-awaited Egyptian Sukuk law was finallized on the 19th March, exactly three months after its initial draft was released on the 19th December 2012. The draft was heavily contested over its alleged disregard for country’s sovereignty and as well as its lack of Shariah compliance by the country’s Islamic scholars and opposing parties. After a lengthy parliamentary debate which began on the 17th March, and concluded two days later with the Sukuk bill finally being approved, the government will at last be able to issue its sovereign Sukuk; expected to be the savior to the country’s foreign currency reserve woes which have reportedly dropped to critical levels of US$13.5 billion in February. Although at time of press, the government had not released any official details on the Sukuk bill or its plans to issue, Dr Ahmad Elnaggar, an advisor to the finance minister in the Ministry of Finance anticipates that the government will debut its sovereign Sukuk in the fourth quarter of this year. The ministry will also establish a seven-member Shariah board for the proposed issuance. Ahmad also noted that both Citibank and Credit Agricole have expressed interest in the Sukuk, while global conglomerate IDB has allocated up to US$6 billion of investments into the country once the Sukuk law has been finalized.