Bahrain central bank launches sukuk

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has started the roadshow for its latest sukuk issue

The dollar-denominated sukuk ijara will have a tenor of five years and is expected to be larger than the BD95m ($250m) sukuk listed by the central bank on the Bahrain Stock Exchange on 20 February.

The size of the latest issue has yet to be fixed as the government is waiting to gauge investor demand. Calyon advised and structured the sukuk, which has been assigned a preliminary credit rating of A by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

The sukuk will be issued by a special purpose vehicle, CBB International Sukuk Company.

CBB's first listed sukuk, a five-year $250m issue, was listed on the stock market in 2004.