Sovereign Debt Issuance Choice: Sukuk vs Conventional Bonds

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the most important factors that affect the capital structure of commercial banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach This study uses annual data of 11 Saudi commercial, national banks listed on the tadawul Saudi stock exchange for the period 2010–2017. Data was collected from the banks financial statements, tadawul annual publications and Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. By constructing a balanced panel, this study uses pooled ordinary least squares regression along with fixed effects and random effects to examine the relationship between the bank’s book leverage as the dependent variable and bank-specific explanatory variables that include profitability, tangibility, earnings volatility, growth opportunities and bank size, while controlling for macroeconomic conditions. Findings The findings of this study suggest that banks in Saudi Arabia are highly leveraged, endorsing the fact that the nature of banks’ business is different from non-banking firms. Earnings volatility, growth and bank size show positive and significant relations with book leverage. Profitability and tangibility are negatively related to the book leverage. Empirically, the explanatory variables profitability, earnings volatility, tangibility, growth and bank size have material effects on the capital structure decisions of Saudi commercial banks. In summary, the determinants of capital structure for Saudi banks are the same as those of non-financial firms but are distinctive in nature. Research limitations/implications An extensive study on all the banks operating in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is suggested. Practical implications The findings have practical implications for bank managers, which will help them to identify the bank-specific factors affecting the capital structure and choose the values enhancing optimal capital structure. The results of this study can assist regulatory agencies to formulate an effective regulatory framework. Moreover, the findings lay a foundation for the development of financial sector under the umbrella of the Vision 2030 program in the Kingdom. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the factors affecting the capital structure choices of commercial banks operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the findings of the study would prove useful in detailed studies of capital structure in the GCC countries as well.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of capital structure of banks: evidence from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Khan

Bashir

Islam

2020

“…Usmani (2007) claims that Sukuk are a better instrument to finance large projects than traditional financial institutions. Boujlil et al (2020) studied the factors affecting governments’ choice of Sukuk over conventional bonds. They found that national financial and macroeconomic indicators are the main drivers for using Sukuk.…”

Section: Brief Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We contribute to the body of the literature in many ways. First, previous studies have analyzed Sukuk structures, their co-movements and their risks (Tariq and Dar, 2007), and factors that affect a government’s decision to issue Sukuk over conventional bonds (Boujlil et al , 2020). Recent studies have investigated the impact of Sukuk development on economic growth (Smaoui and Nechi, 2017), the development of the banking sector (Smaoui et al , 2017), the development of the Islamic microfinance industry (Khouildi and Kassim, 2018), the profitability of Islamic and conventional banks (Mimouni et al , 2019), the insolvency risk of Islamic and conventional banks (Smaoui et al , 2019) and the capitalization of Islamic banks (Smaoui and Ghouma, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do sukuk spur infrastructure development?

Smaoui

Mimouni

Salah

2021

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect do Sukuk Spur Infrastructure Development of Sukuk market expansion on infrastructure development for a sample of 15 emerging countries over the period 1997–2018. The paper also compares the role of Sukuk in infrastructure development to that of the size of the banking system, bond market development and stock market development. Design/methodology/approach A novel index of infrastructure development is constructed via principal component analysis. This index is regressed on Sukuk market development and other macroeconomic and institutional variables. To tackle the problems of heteroscedasticity and the existence of serial correlation in the residuals, the panel model is estimated using the generalized least squares (GLS) procedure with random effects and robust standard errors. Findings The evidence shows that a well-developed Sukuk market contributes to the expansion of the country’s infrastructure, whereas a larger banking system and a better capitalized stock market do not have any significant effect on infrastructure development. Surprisingly, well-developed bond markets jeopardize infrastructure expansion, thereby pointing to a potential crowding-out effect between Sukuk and bonds in financing infrastructure investments. Additionally, per capita GDP and education are positively related to infrastructure development, whereas inflation has a negative effect on the country’s proliferation of infrastructure. Originality/value This study uses a novel infrastructure index via principal component analysis and shows that Sukuk markets fill an important gap in the financing of large-scale and long-term projects. This result is novel and has not been documented in previous research.

“…They find that cost, loss of control, constrained access to conventional debt, financial suitability, stage of development as well as religious beliefs have a significant impact on the SMEs’ attitude towards PLS modes. Boujlil et al (2020) investigate the factors that determine governments’ decisions to employ sovereign Sukuk over conventional bonds. They find that countries that have developed financial markets, higher credit quality and strong economic/financial prospects, issue more sovereign Sukuk than sovereign conventional bonds.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure in an Islamic legal system: the case of Saudi Arabia

Guizani

Ajmi²

2021

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the basic premises according to the pecking order theory (POT) provide an explanation for the capital structure mix of firms operating under Islamic principles. Design/methodology/approach Pooled ordinary least squares, fixed and random effects regressions were performed to test the POT applying data from a sample of 66 Islamic-compliant firms listed on Saudi Stock Market over the period 2006–2016. Findings The results show that sale-based instruments (Murabahah, Ijara) track the financial deficit quite closely followed by equity financing and as a last alternative to finance deficit, Islamic-compliant firms issue Sukuk. In the crisis period, these firms seem more reliant on equity, then on sale-based instruments and on Sukuk as last option. The study findings also indicate that the cumulative financing deficit does not wipe out the effects of conventional variables, although it is empirically significant. This provides no support for the POT attempts by Saudi Islamic-compliant firms Research limitations/implications This research contributes to the theory of capital structure in re-validating the findings of a previous theoretical and empirical study. It helps understand the capital structure of Islamic-compliant firms in comparison with conventional firms. It highlights some areas where further research on topics related to capital structure of Islamic-compliant firms is needed. The failure of the POT to explain Saudi firms’ financing choices strongly pushed researchers to test the market timing theory for the Saudi Stock Market. Further research studies could re-examine the trade-off theory in the absence of interest tax shield as in an Islamic economy. Practical implications From a managerial perspective, this research can serve firm executive managers in their financing decisions to add value to the companies. Furthermore, policymakers, bankers and standard-setting organizations should undertake more collective work to simplify the process of issuing Islamic financial instruments including Sukuk. Moreover, the Saudi Government has to encourage the private sector to be more innovative in developing products and services that are in line with Sharia principles. Finally, to attract investors, the Capital Market Authority has to encourage transaction, efficiency and liquidity of Islamic financial instruments. Originality/value The proposed study presents several originalities. First, it explores the implications of relevant Islamic principles on financing preferences of Saudi firms. Second, the present study enables us to investigate what the sudden abundance of liquidity, generated by the record levels of oil prices, implied for the firms’ financing behavior. Finally, it provides further evidence on the impact of financial crisis on the firms’ capital structure choice in a period of considerable slowdown in the world.