By Adriana Nina Kusuma
JAKARTA, April 30 (Reuters) - Indonesia's finance ministry said on Wednesday it planned to issue sharia-compliant bonds for retail investors as well as Islamic T-bills to help develop the local Islamic finance industry and plug its budget deficit.
It would also issue separate Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to finance government projects, the ministry said in a statement.
Last week the government said it would raise up to $2 billion this year by selling its first Islamic bonds to fund the budget deficit. It plans two bonds in the second half of 2008 in domestic and overseas markets.
Sukuk comply with sharia, or Islamic law, which bans lending for interest. Bond holders are paid income derived from assets such as rent from property, or from commercial transactions such as trade in goods and services.
Analysts said news of the latest planned issuance should be well received and the debt could help the government overcome problems raising funds in the traditional bond market, which has been hurt by the subprime crisis.
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