IILM Hits Record US$7.055 Bln Outstanding Ṣukuk Portfolio Despite Volatile Markets

KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 (Bernama) -- The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation’s (IILM) total outstanding short-term sukuk assets climbed to a record US$7.055 billion, following a US$975 million issuance and reissuance exercise (US$1=RM3.97). 

IILM said this reflects strong and sustained market appetite for high-quality Islamic liquidity instruments despite persistent global market uncertainty and increasingly cautious investor sentiment.

The successful issuance and reissuance were made across five different tenors of one-, two-, three-, six-, and nine-month, and priced competitively, it stated in a statement. 

The five series were priced at 3.90 per cent for US$183 million (one-month), 4.15 per cent for US$154 million (two-month), 4.00 per cent for US$408 million (three-month), 4.10 per cent for US$200 million (six-month) and 4.28 per cent for US$30 million (nine-month).

IILM, the world’s leading issuer of shariah-compliant short-term liquidity instruments, stated that the auction attracted robust global demand, with total bids reaching US$2.435 billion, representing a strong 2.5 times oversubscription.

This underscores the continued appeal of its highly rated, USD-denominated short-term Sukuk as a resilient and reliable liquidity management instrument in times of uncertainty.

IILM chief executive officer Mohamad Safri Shahul Hamid said the successful completion of US$975 million auction increased IILM’s outstanding sukuk portfolio to a record US$7.055 billion.

“Heightened geopolitical tensions, rising oil-driven inflation concerns, and continued uncertainty over the US interest rate outlook have led to significant market volatility and a sharp widening in issuance spreads across global funding markets.

“Despite these challenging conditions, IILM continued to attract strong investor participation, underscoring the resilience of our programme and the critical role of high-quality short-term Islamic liquidity instruments during periods of heightened uncertainty,” he added.

Today’s transaction also marks IILM’s 10th sukuk auction year-to-date, bringing total issuances in 2026 to US$11.77 billion across 48 sukuk series of varying maturities.

All issuances were conducted under its US$8.5 billion short-term Sukuk Issuance Programme, rated “A-1” by S&P Global Ratings and “F1” by Fitch Ratings.

-- BERNAMA