The financial market, whether Islamic or conventional, will always grow with a strong government and will not be affected by the ongoing protest by the opposition over the 13th general election results, said CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd Executive Director/Chief Executive Director Badlisyah Abdul Ghani.
“The election result has shown that we have a strong government in the country, and we definitely will see Islamic finance grow more and more,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the 10th Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Summit themed “The Future of the Islamic Finance Services Industry: Resilience, Stability, and Inclusive Growth” here Tuesday.
He said Islamic finance has been growing significantly over the last few years, and this trend is expected to continue this year.
“We will continue to see growth. In terms of activities, the banking sector will continue to deepen and Islamic capital market will continue to dominate.”
Badlisyah said he “sees the asset management industry to be healthy and growing too, as we see healthy growth in both the equities and debt capital markets.”
At the same event, the IFSB released the Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2013, which estimates the Islamic financial services industry’s assets at US$1.6 trillion as at the end of last year, representing 20.4 per cent growth year-on-year since the end of 2011.
By region, total Islamic financial assets are focused in the Middle East and Asia and remain heavily concentrated in Islamic banks, it said.
“Aside from Iran and Sudan, which support a fully Shariah-compliant financial system, selected Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Bangladesh and Malaysia are the main markets where Islamic finance has a systemic importance due to the increasing market share of Institutions offering Islamic Financial Services (IIFS) operating within the respective jurisdictions,” it added.
According to the report, in Malaysia, IIFSs hold 20 per cent of the total banking system assets as at the end of last year.
It said a sample of 50 Islamic banks across 11 countries shows that the Islamic banking industry has witnessed significant growth over recent years, with total assets of Islamic banks at US$11.4 billion as at the end of 2011, increasing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 16.6 per cent between 2007 and 2011.
“During the global financial crisis period, despite the turmoil across financial markets, Islamic banks remained relatively resilient, still able to grow at significant pace,” the report said.
