Minister of Investment, Osama Saleh, has announced yesterday the completion of the draft's law with regards to issuance of Islamic Sukuk to be presented to the council of ministers. This type of issuance is applied in Egypt for the first time and it aims to cover the budget deficit of the state as well as meeting the needs of other Islamic markets that deal in this type of financing instruments. During the Regional Forum for Islamic finance (its organized by the World bank and Central Bank of Egypt), which is being held on the 20th and 21st of the current month, Slaeh stated that the legal structure of these Sukuk has been formed by a working group, comprised of the Ministry of Investment and Finance, Central Bank of Egypt, Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority and the Federation of Egyptian Banks. The final amount of these Sukuk or instruments is not yet determined, but they will be sufficient enough to cover a good portion of the state needs, Saleh further added. Saleh, has also stressed on the importance of hosting such type of Forums in Egypt during this transitional period, representing positive steps towards finding new efficient mechanisms supporting the recovery of the Egyptian economy. Ecra Egypt
