DUBAI, May 22 (Reuters) - Islamic Development Bank, which provides financing and loans in Muslimcountries, has more than tripled its authorised capital to $150billion to better support development projects in its 56 membernations, the bank said on Wednesday.
The increase in capital, which was last raised in 2006, willallow the IDB to finance more and bigger schemes, said DavlataliSaidov, chairman of the IDB board of governors.
Energy, transportation, and water and sanitation projectsmake up about 60 percent of the portfolio of the AAA-rated IDB,which also sets up and manages funds in accordance with shariaprinciples.
The bank, whose largest shareholder is Saudi Arabia with23.6 percent, has also mandated six banks for a five-year $1billion sukuk, or Islamic bond, which will be dually listed inLondon and Malaysia.
The IDB added that it would tap the sukuk marketperiodically in the future but gave no details.
The joint lead managers of the sukuk are Qatar's Barwa Bank,BNP Paribas, CIMB, HSBC, NCB Capital - theinvestment banking arm of Saudi's National Commercial Bank - and Standard Chartered Bank.
Earlier this month, IDB president Ahmad Mohamed Ali calledfor the creation of a global sharia advisory board to establishgreater uniformity within Islamic financing, which has itscentres in the Middle East and southeast Asia.
Adopting a centralised format for supervisingsharia-compliant banking products is gaining favour across theglobe, as regulators seek to standardise industry practices andimprove consumer perceptions.
Islamic banking assets at commercial banks reached $1.55trillion globally at the end of 2012, and are projected toexceed $2 trillion by 2015, according to consultants Ernst &Young.