IslamicFinance.de

Central banks need to have a stronger role in setting regulations for the region’s Islamic banks. Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, the head of the Arab Monetary Fund, said regulators need to introduce new liquidity management tools. The region’s central banks have moved to offer Islamic banks new, Sharia-compliant liq­uidity facilities to help shore up their short-term financial positions. The UAE Central Bank introduced a Sharia-compliant short-term lending facility in March last year. It allows banks to sell and repurchase Sharia-compliant securities overnight at profit.

Islamic services and products have seen significant growth over the recent years, said Dr. Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). Al Hamidy said in his welcome address at the four-day Islamic Insuranceprogramme that since 2000, the Islamic finance industry has grown by up to 20 percent to US$2 trillion by the end of 2014. He noted that the delivery of Islamic insurance services offered a testament to the robust evolvement and expansion of the Sharia-compliant banking services and solutions. Twenty-four participants from 12 countries are attending the event, which is being jointly organised by the Abu Dhabi-based AMF and the World Bank.