Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said that the government has issued green Islamic bonds or green sukuk worth US$5 billion globally so far.
“Since 2018, the government has consistently issued green sukuk instruments, which have also been issued globally,” she noted at the “LIKE IT: Sustain Habit in Investing, Invest in Sustainable Instruments” event here on Friday.
With this issuance, Indonesia has succeeded in becoming one of the emerging market countries that are able to position and take advantage of opportunities created by the increasing awareness of environmentally friendly instruments, Indrawati said.
Indonesia has even managed to receive an award as a country capable of having the largest sukuk transactions in US dollars and the largest green sukuk transactions in US dollars with a tenor of 10 years.
According to the minister, Indonesia is not only focusing on global investors in issuing green Islamic bonds because currently, the government is also continuously issuing domestic green retail sukuk, especially for individual investors in the country.
“This step is for investors in Indonesia to penetrate deeper and wider, especially at the retail level,” she said.
Thus, green sukuk investors in Indonesia do not need to invest billions, but smaller amounts such as Rp500 thousand or Rp10 million, Indrawati added.
In addition, the government is targeting millennials and women in issuing green retail sukuk.
In 2018, Indonesia issued the first green sukuk in the world, worth US$1.25 billion, which was exclusively distributed to environmentally friendly projects based on the Green Framework.
As per Indonesia’s Green Framework, there are nine sectors that can be financed using green sukuk: renewable energy, natural resource sustainable management, energy efficiency, green tourism, climate change resilience, green building, sustainable transportation, sustainable agriculture, and waste and energy management.
Source: Antara News