Jakarta. The Indonesian government claimed on Tuesday it has controlled 23.11 percent of global sharia bonds market by issuing a total of $23.65 billion worth of the Islamic bonds. 

Over the past few years, the government has been aggressively issuing the Islamic financial certificate, known also as Sukuk, which was relatively resilient to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Indonesia has become a major issuer of Sukuk in the international markets. The total value of our Sukuk is $23.65 billion with a 23.11percent share of the global Sukuk issuance,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in seminar in Jakarta.

Since 2018, the government has issued $3.5 billion worth of Sukuk with competitive returns to investors, she said.

The minister added that shariah-compliant financial businesses remain strong during the pandemic as shown by a persistent growth in sharia bank financing with a low level of non-performing loans.

The rapidly growing Muslim population across the globe has become the main driving force behind the increasing demand for sharia-compliant financial products, now emerge as new attraction to global investors, she said.

An increasingly digitized world and rapid development of the halal industry also spur growth in Islamic financial businesses, she added.

Indonesia has the world’s biggest Muslim population, with Islam followers making up more than 80 percent of its 272 million citizens.

The country has 34 sharia banks with a combined asset of Rp 571 trillion ($40 billion) and more than 1,300 branches across the archipelago, according to the Financial Services Authority (OJK).