Representatives from the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB) and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority recently gathered over videoconference to discuss opportunities for cooperation in participation finance between Turkey and Qatar, according to local media reports. The videoconference, which was held on the 28th of January 2021, was coordinated by the Turkish Presidency’s Finance Office and was held to develop cooperation between TKBB and QFC, according to a statement released from the Finance Office. The existing potential of Turkey and Qatar in partic...

Egypt’s Sukuk market is anticipated to exceed EGP 20 billion in 2021 according to stakeholders, who were sharing their views at a recent roundtable discussing the competitive advantages of Sukuk over other financing instruments in Egypt, as reported in local media. Chaired by Sayed Abdel-Fadil, Head of the Capital Market Operations Sector at the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), the roundtable reviewed the developments of Egypt’s Sukuk market, which included three issuances worth EGP 5.1 billion in 2020. Abdel-Fadil noted that Moody’s Investors Services an...

Fitch Ratings’ Global Head of Islamic Finance, Bashar Al-Natoor, stated that Saudi Arabia is currently leading the Islamic finance industry worldwide, with this trend set to continue through 2021. In a statement to Arab News, Al-Natoor said that despite Islamic finance being small globally, it is significant in the Middle East and even more so in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s top position in Islamic finance is largely due to the end of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-Qatar rift and the growing prominence of green finance. According to Al-Natoor, in the past, Saudi Ara...

The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has announced that PT Bank BRI Syariah (BRIS) will change its name to PT Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) as effective on the 1st of February, 2021. The name change follows the bank's merger with PT Bank Syariah Mandiri and PT Bank BNI Syariah. BSI will operate under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The Ministry’s articles of association will be amended accordingly, including incorporation of the BRIS’ new legal name. IDX has approved the application for the listing of shares of the newly merged entity. Befo...

RAM Ratings (RAM) has lowered its forecast of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) for  2021 to 5.8%, from its previous estimate of 7.1%, given the on-going Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0) until the 4th of February 2021. RAM added that every consequent day the MCO 2.0 is extended would lead to a trimming of 0.04 percentage points off Malaysia's 2021 GDP forecast. Economic losses during the MCO 2.0 are anticipated at to average between MYR 500 million to MYR 600 million per day, according to RAM. Despite this, RAM states that the economic impact of the...

Does Bank Type Affect the Profitability? An Econometric Research on Conventional and Islamic BanksIslamic banking, Credit Risk, Participation

Model management of Islamic economic distribution instruments based on region in pandemic period of Covid-19Hadith, Infaq, Islam, Waqf, Zakat

Digital Financial Inclusion, Islamic Banking Stability and Sustainable Economic GrowthIslamic banking, Zakat, Provision

The Role of Islamic Social Finance in Reviving the Economy During COVID19 Pandemic CrisisIslam, Murabahah, Sukuk, Waqf, Zakat

In a bid to contribute to Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Value Based Intermediation (VBI) initiative, Public Islamic Bank Berhad (PIBB) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with KPower on the 27th of January 2021 for the installation and financing of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for PIBB customers, according to local media reports.  The MoA is in line with the Net Energy Metering 3.0 (NEM 3.0) launched by Malaysia’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry at the end of 2020 to cater to rising customer requ...