Govt Raises Sukuk Worth Over Rs. 46 Billion Against GT Road 

The government of Pakistan has raised funds of Rs. 46.5 billion through Government Ijarah Sukuk (GIS) against the asset identified as a part of GT Road. These are variable rental Sukuk with a tenure of 5 years issued against GT Road, N-5: Peshawar & Nowshera (6,172 Kanal & 15 Marla). According to the sources, this is the start of the new series of Ijarah Sukuk with a target of over Rs. 600 billion ($2.7 billion approximately) to be issued during the next few months against assets maintained by the National Highway Authority (NHA). It is pertinent to mention here that the government identified five assets recently for raising Sukuks in October 2022. These assets include Sukuks will be issued against the assets mentioned below: The government is looking to raise Rs. 1 to 1.5 trillion from the domestic market in the current year financial year. This will help the government to convert from interest-based borrowing and also will support the growth of Islamic banking and halal investment opportunities for the general public as the country move towards conversion to shariah compliant financial and banking system. With the help of Sukuks, the Ministry of Finance was successful to raise funds from the Islamic banking market at 100 bps lower than the conventional alternatives thus saving millions of rupees in terms of the financial cost. Meezan Bank along with Dubai Islamic Bank and Alfalah Islamic led the transaction as Joint Financial Advisor to the Ministry of Finance. Overall, the Sukuk raised by the government surged to more than Rs. 3. 5 trillion.