The monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al-Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 680%, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) said in a statement.
Subscriptions worth BD 176.766 million were received for the BD 26 million issue, which carries a maturity of 182 days, the statement said.
He explained that the issue number is 193 (ISIN BH0009925IB6) of the short-term Islamic government lease sukuk issued by the bank on behalf of the government.
Central Bank of Bahrain
According to the Bank, the expected return for these sukuk is 1.49% compared to the interest rate of 1.51% for the previous issue on August 5, 2021, knowing that the issue was covered by 680%.
In a related context, the bank announced an increase in the volume of point-of-sale and e-commerce operations in Bahrain by about 65% in August, on an annual basis, to reach approximately $744 million during the month, after reaching $3.62 billion in the first half of 2021.
More than 11.3 million digital transactions were completed in Bahrain last month, valued at 279.6 million Bahraini dinars ($743.7 million), according to new data issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Payments made through e-commerce operations and points of sale increased by about 50% in August 2021 compared to the same month last year.
The data also indicates that digital payments amounted to more than 53 million transactions in the first half of 2021.
Electronic payment
This data reflects the rising trend in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to increase reliance on electronic payments and through the Internet, with the acceleration of the transition of countries towards reducing their reliance on printed money in line with the conditions of the pandemic.
The closures last year also contributed to the sharp shift in reliance on digital payment systems.
Bahrain’s national digital wallet “Benefit Pay” announced an increase of 785% in transfers through the Fawri + service (an electronic payment service provided under the electronic money transfer system). Remittances exceeded $5 million in 2020.
A research prepared by the European Payments Council indicated that the Middle East and North Africa region witnessed nearly 139 billion individual non-cash transactions in 2022, an increase of 90 billion compared to the rates implemented in the region five years ago.
