Banks to Boost Profit on Money-Market Products: Islamic Finance

Islamic banks will be offered a range of new money-market instruments in coming months, allowing lenders to earn larger returns from excess cash stored at central banks or locked into longer-dated securities.

The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp., which is being set up in Kuala Lumpur by 11 central banks, will sell its first short-term bills in dollars early next year, Malaysian central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said Oct. 28. Prime Rate Capital Management LLP plans to start a $250 million Islamic cash fund in January, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Oulton said in a Nov. 23 interview. The U.A.E.’s central bank auctioned its first Shariah-compliant certificates of deposits on Nov. 10.