IslamicFinance.de

Asset growth rates at Islamic banks in Qatar have dropped to just above those of their conventional peers, cutting a large lead which the industry held in previous years and suggesting the impact of a regulatory ban on Islamic windows is fading. Islamic banking assets grew 12.2 percent in 2013 to 218.8 billion riyals ($60 billion). That was only marginally faster than 11.2 percent growth posted by conventional banks during the same period. Before the ban of Islamic windows, they captured 54.6 billion riyals of assets. Since Qatar's ban took effect at the end of 2011, Islamic banks have added 57.5 billion riyals of assets to their balance sheets. This suggests that if Islamic banks absorbed the assets from the Islamic windows in their entirety, their growth excluding this factor has been minimal.