IslamicFinance.de

Iran currently accounts for more than 40% of the world’s total Islamic banking assets, or around $482bn. Iran could easily cross the $1tn-asset mark by 2018 given the urgency for cash-strapped Iranian public and private companies to raise liquidity after years of isolation from the international finance industry. Analysts expect that a large number of sukuk and other Islamic financing vehicles will hit the world market soon. Adding to private companies, the country requires funds for its infrastructure development programmes earmarked for the next decade worth an estimated $1tn. However, analysts point out that the road back into the global finance system for Iran could be bumpy as the long isolation withheld Iranian banks from implementing globally accepted reporting and compliance standards, and restoring ties of its formerly stand-alone banking system to global financial institutions could prove regulatory and technically difficult.