ISLAMABAD: Investor conferences on Sukuk began on Monday with the inaugural one held at Abu Dhabi in the morning and the second at Dubai in the afternoon yesterday.

Having successfully concluded the Middle East road shows and investor conferences, the Pakistan team led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar left Dubai for London, said a message received here from the UAE.

A US dollar-denominated benchmark 144A/Regulation Sukuk transaction will follow subject to market conditions and investors’ response after conclusion of conferences in Singapore and London on Tuesday.

Riding on the success of Eurobond issue in April this year, which was oversubscribed 14 times, but the government decided to take only US $2 billion against offers of over US $7 billion, it announced that it had priority for Shariah-compliant bonds (Sukuk) for giving an equal chance to Islamic investors in Islamic papers.

Therefore, the economic team has now embarked upon tapping the fast growing and highly liquid base of Sukuk investors to consolidate macroeconomic stability direction and enhance the forex reserves of the country.

Universal acceptance of Sukuk as a strong alternative to regular conventional bonds and earlier announced in April 2014, are key drivers for this beginning, which has already witnessed a significant interest from investors in the Middle East.

Its successful conclusion will assist the country to continue its wide-ranging development plans in the energy, infrastructure and other essential sectors.

The group meetings in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were well received by a wide-range of quality investors, including fund managers, private banks, and local and international financial institutions.—APP