KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is projected to register a higher sukuk issuance in the second half (2H) of this year despite lower domestic sovereign issuance in the first half (1H), according to Moody’s Ratings.

Its assistant vice president Abdulla AlHammadi said the projection was based on the country's fiscal deficit, which is expected to hit 4.4 per cent in 2024 and narrow to 3.8 per cent in 2025.

"We are expecting issuances coming from Malaysia, maybe in the first half of 2024 it was a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) story, but we are expecting more coming from Malaysia in the second half,” he said in a virtual 2024 Global Islamic Finance Industry Update roundtable today.