Bond and sukuk listings bolster MSM debt market

banking in the Sultanate, said Niazi. Talal sukuk was the first one to be listed on the MSM with a value of RO 50 million. Meethaq, the Islamic banking window of Bank Muscat, issued RO 44 million sukuk last year, while MB Holding raised $76 million through a sukuk private placement, he said.

“Most recently, Maisarah Islamic banking of Bankdhofar has successfully set-up a RO 200 million programme, first of its kind for local real estate, logistics and hospitality company Golden Group. The first tranche of RO 50 million was closed at the beginning of this year.”

Niazi envisions an important role for Oman’s capital markets in nurturing economic development in the coming years. “As the economy picks up in 2018 and beyond, we expect that the debt and equity capital markets will be the key enablers and facilitators for the economic growth in the country,” he said.

Oman is home to a well-developed stock exchange, the Muscat Securities Market (MSM).

Its overall market capitalisation was almost $47 billion at the end of 2017. After the slowdown in recent years, we have witnessed a resurgence in IPO activity in 2017, thanks to government driven offerings,” the CEO stated.

IPO activity is expected to be sustained over the coming years as more power companies go public and the government moves forward with the plans to divest and partially privatize state-owned entities through listings, said Niazi.