New Sharia-Compliant Government Retail Bonds Sale in Indonesia
The government of Indonesia plans to sell another series of sharia-compliant government retail bonds (in Indonesian: Sukuk Negara Ritel, abbreviated Sukri). The offering period is planned for 4 February - 2 March 2017. However, Suminto, Islamic Financing Director at the Budget Financing and Risk Management Office within Indonesia's Finance Ministry, did not inform about the indicative target for this issuance. He only informed local media that the target of the bond issuance will be in line with the government's financing needs and existing market conditions.
In last year's Sukri issuance the Indonesian government set an indicative target of IDR 30 trillion (approx. USD $2.2 billion) for its SR-008 series, offered between 19 February and 4 March 2016. However, due to robust demand authorities raised a total of IDR 31 trillion. The three year SR-008 bonds carry a fixed coupon of 8.3 percent per year. It was the the government's biggest ever sale of Sukri bonds. This record-breaking performance of the SR-008 Islamic bond series was attributed to a better understanding of Indonesian retail investors (Sukri is only available to Indonesian citizens) about Islamic investment instruments and the efforts of sales agents.
Funds generated through Sukri are used to plug the government's budget deficit. In 2017 the budget deficit of Indonesia is expected to reach IDR 330.2 trillion, or 2.41 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP). However, the role of Sukri is still rather small when taking in account the total amount of funds that are generated. In 2017 the Indonesian government plans to sell IDR 597 trillion worth of bonds, mostly rupiah-denominated government bonds (about 20 percent of total bonds are foreign currency-denominated).
Robert Pakpahan, Head of the Debt Office within Indonesia's Finance Ministry, earlier said Indonesia will only offer retail bonds twice this year (contrary to four times in 2016), consisting of Sukri and Indonesian Retail Government Bonds (in Indonesian: Obligasi Negara Ritel Indonesia, abbreviated ORI).
History of Sukri Bonds in Indonesia:
| Serie | Coupon | Listing Date | Maturity Date |
Sold (in IDR trln) |
Number of Investors |
| SR-001 | 12.0% | 25/02/2009 | 25/02/2012 | 5.55 | 14,295 |
| SR-002 | 8.70% | 10/02/2010 | 10/02/2013 | 8.03 | 17,231 |
| SR-003 | 8.15% | 23/02/2011 | 23/02/2014 | 7.34 | 15,487 |
| SR-004 | 6.25% | 21/03/2012 | 25/09/2015 | 19.00 | 17,606 |
| SR-005 | 6.00% | 27/02/2013 | 27/02/2016 | 20.87 | 17,783 |
| SR-006 | 8.75% | 05/03/2014 | 05/03/2017 | 19.35 | 34,692 |
| SR-007 | 8.25% | 11/03/2015 | 11/03/2018 | 21.97 | 29,706 |
| SR-008 | 8.30% | 11/03/2016 | 10/03/2019 | 31.50 | 48,444 |
Sources: Kontan & Jakarta Globe