Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has maintained its leading position in the primary and secondary markets for the Sukuk issuance of the International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) Sukuk Program. KFH achieved the top rank as a Primary Dealer and ranked first as a Secondary Dealer for the third year in a row amongst the IILM primary dealers that include several local, regional and international banks.

KFH General Manager Treasury Kuwait, Ahmad Al-Sumait said that maintaining this excellence emphasizes the KFH`s leading position and the confidence it enjoys in the Sukuk market, as well as its pioneering role in activating and developing the primary and secondary Sukuk market.

He added that KFH is top-ranked in this program, with an issuance volume of US$ 11.5 Billion covering 36 Sukuk, noting that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rated IILM Sukuk Program a short-term A-1 sukuk program.

“Being one of the most active market makers, KFH will continue its investment activities in the primary and secondary markets”, he said.

“KFH continued to persistently expand its short-term Sukuk trading and succeeded in enhancing its active role as a market maker, maintaining its leadership in professionalism and efficiency standards, thus contributing to the development and improvement of the Sukuk market” added Al-Sumait.

He noted that this achievement has been made by KFH despite the unstable global economic environment, in terms of the fluctuations of returns in the fixed income market due to the global high inflation and the interventions by central banks to withdraw liquidity.

“As markets expect interest rates to decline this year, forecasts indicate that 2024 would be an active year in terms of the volume of issuances for the primary market and trading for the secondary market. This will offer attractive investment opportunities.” said Al-Sumait.

Meanwhile, the International Islamic Liquidity Management (IILM) commended KFH’s strong performance in the Sukuk Market and its high efficiency in marketing sukuk issuances. IILM praised the extended relationship it has with KFH since IILM’s first sukuk issuance in 2013 as part of a short-term wide-ranging sukuk program.

IILM added in its statement that the top rank in the primary and secondary markets for KFH is an earned achievement and confirms its leadership and significant role in activating and developing the Sukuk market.