Maait made his comments in an interview with Ahram Online on the sidelines of the 47th annual meetings of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Egypt hosted over four days in Sharm El-Shiekh.

Egypt planned to issue its first sukuk in the current FY2021/2022, which ends in June.

Maait explained that the government has not set the total value of this issuance, asserting that it will be set according to the global markets’ latest conditions.

He also stressed that Egypt’s sukuk are not commercial bonds, but they have the specific purpose of financing the budget deficit as well as attracting new investors to the Egyptian market.

“Sukuk issuance needs great efforts as these kind of bonds are unconventional way to secure finance. It needs capital, investors, capabilities and a suitable infrastructure,” Maait further noted.

He also said that the total amount of the issuance has yet to be set.

Following cabinet approval in November 2020, the House of Representatives approved the sukuk bill in June 2021.

The bill paves the way for Egypt’s government to enter the world of Islamic financing, which recorded $2.7 trillion in transactions globally by the end of June, according to Maait.

Sukuk issuance globally grew by 11.6 percent in value during the first quarter (1Q) of 2022 to post $64.5 billion, driven by sovereigns and multilateral institutions despite the ongoing challenges, Fitch Ratings’s report said in April.

According to the report, global outstanding sukuk rose to $722.8 billion by the end of 1Q of 2022, which is 1.5 percent higher than the level reached by the end of 2021.