The Jakarta Globe.com - June 02, 2012

Bank Muamalat, the country’s top Islamic bank, plans to sell Islamic bonds worth Rp 1.5 trillion ($159 million) over the next two years to boost lending.

The Jakarta-based lender aims to sell Rp 500 billion in July this year, it said in a brief prospectus published in Bisnis Indonesia newspaper on Wednesday.

It will offer the notes to investors on June 25-26, with a planned listing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange on July 2. It will sell the final Rp 1 trillion next year.

The lender has hired Bahana Securities, Danareksa Sekuritas and Indo Premier Securities to help arrange the sale of Islamic bonds, which comply with Shariah law by using asset returns to pay investors rather than interest.

Indonesia has 11 Islamic banks, including Bank Syariah Mandiri and Bank Mega Syariah, with total assets of Rp 152 trillion as of March, according to data from Bank Indonesia, the central bank. That amounts to about 4.1 percent of the assets in the country’s banking system.

Many banks and companies are rushing to tap funds from the financial market. Bank Tabungan Negara, a state mortgage lender, aims to sell Rp 4 trillion in bonds over the next two years. The lender will sell Rp 2 trillion of 10-year bonds in June and another Rp 2 trillion next year, it said in a prospectus on Tuesday.

Bank Indonesia kept its benchmark rate at 5.75 percent earlier this month to help spur economic growth.