Indonesia sees slower Islamic Banking growth in 2014

Indonesia's central bank estimates growth of Islamic banking assets will slow next year due to rising pressure from trade deficits and a depreciation in the rupiah. The country's authorities now plan to introduce an array of policies to develop the sector, ranging from regulating foreign exchange markets, introducing Islamic repurchase agreements as well as education and promotion initiatives. The central bank said a tighter policy in finance-to-deposit ratio, similar to the loan-to-deposit (LDR) ratio used for conventional banks, and developing a sharia-compliant lender of last resort (LOLR) would be needed to support the stability of the financial system.