IslamicFinance.de

The International Monetary Fund warned that Gulf Arab states could burn through all their savings in the next 15 years as worries about climate change and supply from new competitors dampen oil prices. The stark alarm from the IMF comes as the island nation of Bahrain faced defaulting on a loan in 2018 and received a $10 billion bailout from its neighbors. According to IMF, the world’s demand for oil is expected to grow more slowly and eventually begin to decline in the next two decades. Oil production in the GCC represents 20% of global supplies. While GCC nations largely grew their reserves from 1997 to 2007, they began spending rapidly in the decade that followed. The monetary body recommended faster diversification away from an oil-based economy, a renewed push to save money and reforming the region’s large civil service.

Over the past two decades sub-Saharan Africa has made considerable economic progress, as extreme poverty levels have declined by one third; life expectancy has increased by a fifth; and real per capita income has grown by about 50 percent on average. Still sub-Saharan Africa is only half-way to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve its goals, sub-Saharan Africa will need financing.

According to a recent study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kuwait’s Islamic financial services sector is growing rapidly, with Islamic banking emerging as the most developed component of the industry. Islamic banks’ market share increased rapidly between 2005 and 2010 and has since then stabilised at around 38%. Kuwait’s Islamic banking sector includes systemically important banks. The largest Islamic bank in Kuwait accounts for 23% of total banking system assets, over 70% of the Islamic banking assets. The capital adequacy ratio and Tier-1 capital remain above 15%. The IMF report notes that the economic diversification effort could help drive further growth in Kuwait’s Islamic banking industry.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the rapid growth of Islamic finance in Kenya is happening without adequate protection of depositors. Despite the fact that the Shariah banks are already offering loan products, Kenya is yet to refine its prudential regulations to cater for Islamic banking. Kenya is also yet to come up with a Shariah-compliant deposit insurance scheme and is continuing to manage deposit insurance premiums in a single pool for all banks. This situation could complicate compensation of depositors if a bank offering conventional and Islamic products collapses. According to the IMF, Kenya should seek to bring clarity to the grey areas in Islamic finance as it drafts amendments to the banking law as promised in the 2017/18 budget.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been a proactive supporter of Islamic banking and has declared it a priority for its operations in countries with Islamic banking. In a recent report titled "Ensuring Financial Stability in Countries with Islamic Banking", IMF economists have created a plan of action that would have game-changing implications for the industry. The report acknowledges the progress achieved in developing prudential standards, but concludes that the current framework governing the global industry contains many gaps. Particular attention needs to be paid to developing resolution, financial safety nets, such as deposit protection insurance and a lender of last resort, and liquidity management frameworks. According to IMF, the emergence of complex hybrid Islamic financial institutions and products is a regulatory challenge.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the current framework governing Islamic Banking contains many gaps that need to be closed through the development of a more comprehensive enabling environment. In a recently adopted staff paper “Ensuring Financial Stability in Countries with Islamic Banking”, the IMF calls for further strengthening of the legal and regulatory environment and institutional framework in countries that have Islamic banking. The study notes that Islamic banking has established a presence in more than 60 countries and has become systemically important in 14 jurisdictions. International guidance is needed to address the limited progress that has been achieved in developing financial safety net frameworks. Country practices have diverged on several important fronts. The emergence of hybrid financial products in Islamic Banking that replicate aspects of conventional finance in an Islamic Banking context has raised financial stability concerns. The IMF has been providing technical advice to member countries for the past 20 years and plans even more involvement in policy advice and capacity development.