Bangladesh’s Islamic Finance Industry Boosted by Strong Demand and Policy Support

Home to approximately 8.0% of the global Muslim population, Bangladesh has long had a strong domestic demand for Islamic banking and finance services. The country currently has 10 fully-fledged Islamic banks, 19 Islamic banking branches belonging to nine conventional banks, and 41 Islamic banking windows of seven conventional banks.

Data from the Bangladesh Central Bank indicates that collectively, these operations accounted for 1,301 branches of Islamic finance/banking services across the country, as at the end of September 2019, compared to 1,200 at the end of September 2018.

The Shariah-compliant deposit base in the country totalled USD 30.8 billion as at end of September 2019, reco...