As noted in the introduction to this year’s Top Islamic Financial Institutions report, this is the first edition in its nine-year history in which the industry’s total asset growth has moved into negative territory. Yet, a closer look at the data reveals a more positive story than this downward shift might suggest. Though the Islamic finance industry’s global growth is beginning to moderate, the impact of exchange rate differentials in a number of markets, notably Iran, has substantially altered the overall picture this year.
Lenders in the country recorded a -38.79% fall in total assets in this year’s report. As the world’s largest Islamic banking market – due to the fully sharia-compliant nature of its financial system – any sizeable change in Iran’s total assets has significant implications for the global total.
