Cairo - MENA
An expert in Islamic funding has outlined
essential differences between ordinary bonds and Islamic sukuks, the most
prominent of which is the fact that profit is more guaranteed in the
second case.
Addressing a hearing session of the Shura Council\'s financial affairs
committee on Tuesday Ahmed Hassan el-Naggar made it clear that possession
of Islamic bonds (sukuks) lasts for a certain period - while the project
is being implemented.
Naggar assured MPs that control bodies work to detect \"corrupt\"
feasibility studies to guarantee the money put into the sukuks go to the
place it is meant for.
According to Naggar, two segments of people could be interested in the
sukuks: those after an Islamic-based investment and those seeking to make
big profits with less risks.
International and Gulf investment banks could also consider the sukuks,
Naggar noted.
Unlike loans which have negative impacts on investors, sukuks are
directly linked with assets of the project that could very well be an
infrastructure, a private sector or a public-private sector project, the
financial expert explained.
International trading in Islamic sukuks reached 135 billion dollars in
2012, Naggar said, expecting it to increase to 300 billion by 2016.