Participation banks outpace banking sector in growth rates

Participation Banks Association of Turkey President Fahrettin Yah?i has announced that 2009-2010 was a successful year for the sector and that this is expected to continue through to next year.
Yah?i, who is also the CEO of Albaraka Participation Bank, expects the Turkish banking sector to grow by 12 percent by the end of this year while participation banks will grow in the range of 20-25 percent. He noted that participation banks grew by 32 percent in 2009 while conventional banks only grew 14 percent.
However, as the loan mechanisms of participation banks depend on private sector needs, financial distress in the private sector does impact them.
They had not been significantly affected by the global financial crisis as participation banks’ unpaid loans were only 4 percent of their total portfolio between 2009 and 2010 while the banking sector was at 5 percent.