Turkish President calls for Islamic banking to reach 25 per cent

Speaking at the launch of the participation banking unit of state-owned Vakibank, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the share of Islamic banking is around five per cent now, but the target was earlier defined to increase this share to 15 per cent by 2025. He stated his opinion that the share should reach 25 per cent instead. In December 2014 Vakifbank’s Board of Directors had authorized the bank to carry out all necessary transactions to obtain financing from Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to pledge capital for the Bank's participation banking project, amounting to $300 million with Turkish Treasury guarantee.