Malaysia remains leading Islamic capital market, says deputy finance minister

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Malaysia remains as a global leader in the Islamic capital market with RM1.88 trillion as at end-2018, representing approximately 61 per cent of Malaysia’s overall capital market, says Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah.

Building on its strength in the Islamic capital market as well as recognising challenging international financial environment, the country also continues to be the world’s largest sukuk market, he said.

“This enables greater engagement with the private sector to close the financing gap to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

“Last year, a total of RM882.30 million green bonds and sukuk were issued through the Malaysian capital market for environmental benefits,” he said in his speech during the 44th Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Board of Governors’ Annual Meeting in Morocco recently.

He said last year, Bank Negara Malaysia had also issued a strategy paper on value-based intermediation, which articulated strategies to strengthen the roles and impact of Islamic banks towards a sustainable financial ecosystem.

“It is our sincere desire that Malaysia’s experience will be an encouragement to our fellow member countries as we work together to transform and build our respective economies,” he said.

Themed “Transformation in a Changing World: The Road to Sustainable Development Goals”, the board of governor’s annual meeting was held from April 3-6 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Currently, the IDB group comprises 57 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Kazakhstan. — Bernama