Issuance of sukuk or Islamic bonds is growing impressively. In 2007, the market was twice its 2006 size. At about $6 billion each, the two largest sukuks of 2007 were almost twice the size of the biggest deal of 2006, which at the time was the largest Islamic bond ever. The sukuk market has increased more than tenfold since the beginning of the decade.
However, sukuk issuance has overwhelmingly been restricted to two hubs of the Islamic finance market: Malaysia and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. None of...
