President Holds Get-Together With Sharia Finance Stakeholders

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held a get-together with sharia financial stakeholders at the State Palace here on Friday to mark the eighth year of selling sharia-compliant state bonds.

"In the past four decades, sharia financing has been growing rapidly throughout the world," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati noted.

In 2008, when the sharia compliant state bond law and the sharia compliant banking law were enacted, was a milestone for the sharia finance industry in Indonesia, she said.

"The laws serve as the basis for the control of sharia-compliant financing in Indonesia, that has been growing since then," she added.

The meeting was aimed at strengthening relations between the government and sharia finance stakeholders in the country.

Also present at the meeting were several cabinet ministers, the leadership of the Financial Service Authority (OJK), the National Sharia Council of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), leaders of Islamic mass organizations, sharia finance experts, sharia finance market agents and academics.

For the first time, the government issued sharia compliant bonds in 2008.  As of 2016, the country has issued Rp565.7 trillion in sharia compliant bonds. The amount of outstanding sharia compliant state bonds currently stands at Rp411.7 trillion.

To meet various needs for liquidity and investment instruments, sharia state bonds have been issued in various instruments, including project-based sukuk, sharia compliant state treasury notes, retail sharia state bonds and global state bonds. (WDY)