Turkey authorizes banks to issue dollar-denominated sukuk
U.S. dollar banknotes are displayed in this illustration taken Feb. 14, 2022. (Reuters Photo)


Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry announced Tuesday that it is authorizing banks to issue dollar-denominated sukuk, its first dollar bond sale since September.

Treasury authorized Citi, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Kuwait Finance House Capital for issuance of dollar-denominated sukuk with a maturity of 5 years.

Bloomberg, previously citing sources familiar with the issue, reported that the issuance of the sukuk – Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance – could be used to finance approximately $2 billion of debt, which will expire this month.

According to Refinitiv data, Turkey is due to pay off a $2 billion eurobond on Feb. 21 and a $1.1 billion domestic bond on Feb. 25.

According to ministry’s financing program, it was foreseen to provide $11 billion of financing through bond issuances from international capital markets in 2022.

In 2021, the Treasury provided $10 billion from international markets.

Turkey lastly in September turned to foreign investors with a bond sale in September before a policy of cutting interest rates.

Amid its pursuance of a rate cutting policy, Turkey’s lira last year lost more than 40%, while the nation’s dollar debt handed investors a 5% loss in 2021, according to the Bloomberg indexes.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has lowered its key policy rate by 500 basis points since September 2021.