Pakistan’s sovereign Sukuk crosses Rs10 trillion as issuance surges 113%

Pakistan’s sovereign Sukuk has crossed Rs10 trillion, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Thursday, as issuance of the Shariah-compliant bonds more than doubled this year. Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad, Aurangzeb said the government issued Rs4.179 trillion in Sukuk between January and October 31, more than double the previous annual record of Rs2.052 trillion set across all of 2025. The finance ministry put total issuance in 2026 at about Rs4.4 trillion, up 113 per cent from roughly Rs2 trillion last year.
How fast has it grown?
Aurangzeb said Sukuk issuance stood at only about Rs761 billion in 2020 and has grown at a compound annual rate of around 22 per cent over the past five years. Sukuk are structured to comply with Islamic principles prohibiting interest, and they have become an increasingly important source of government financing. The milestone was marked at a gathering hosted by Meezan Bank, which was also attended by State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad.
What comes next?
The finance minister acknowledged that overseas participation remained weak despite the rapid growth, and said the government now wanted to broaden both retail and foreign investment in the market. The launch of tradable three- and six-month Sukuk has also filled a longstanding gap at the short end of the sovereign Islamic yield curve, providing benchmarks for pricing across the wider Islamic finance market.