The Role of Sukuk in Islamic Capital Markets
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Table 3.4: GCC Countries’ Budget Deficits (2014-2017f/ USD billion)
Country 2014 2015 2016 2017f
Saudi Arabia (25.9) (102.9) (84.5) (56.4)
Qatar 25.3 1.9 (11.9) (18.3)
Kuwait 13.7 (19.6) (15.0) (9.6)
United Arab Emirates 19.7 (7.7) (14.4) (7.8)
Oman (2.7) (11.6) (12.5) (7.5)
Bahrain (1.2) (4.0) (4.6) (4.2)
Total 28.9 (143.9) (143.0) (103.8)
Source: RAM (2017, March)
The GCC countries boast a healthy pipeline of corporate sukuk issuances, predominantly
driven by Islamic financial institutions and government-related entities. Only Saudi Arabia has
provided some diversification into other corporate sectors (i.e. aerospace, chemical, food
processing, industrial, and O&G). Chart 3.7 shows corporate sukuk issuances based on a sector
by the GCC countries and Jordan. Tables 3.5 and 3.6 indicate the number of domestic and
international sukuk issuances by Arab countries from 2001 to 2006.
Chart 3.7: Quasi-Government and Corporate Sukuk Issuances by Sector (2011-June 2017)
Sources: Bloomberg, Eikon Thomson Reuters*
*Data extracted from Eikon Thomson Reuters is for Jordan only
Table 3.5: Arab Countries – Number of Domestic Sukuk Issuances by Country (2001-2016)
Country Number of sukuk issues Amount (USD million) % of total value
Bahrain 265 14,748 19.3
Jordan 3 272 0.4
Kuwait 1 332 0.4
Oman 3 825 1.2
Qatar 16 14,416 18.9
Saudi Arabia 52 37,179 48.7
UAE 14 8,251 10.8
Yemen 2 253 0.3
Total 356 76,276 100.0
Source: IIFM (2017, July)