World financial markets continue to test the interconnectedness of global and domestic banks to international economic and political agendas. Sharia-compliant banks, on the other hand, are demonstrating resilience as world events continue to reshape the landscape for global financial services. However, the test will be the way in which the Islamic finance industry prepares itself for the opportunities and challenges thrown up by the rapidly changing global economy.
In our 2013 survey of sharia-compliant institutions, we see total assets rising for the seventh consecutive year since The Banker began collecting data in 2006, climbing from $1166bn in 2012 to $1267bn in 2013, representing 8.67% annual growth. While growth this year has recorded a slowdown from 20.7% in 2012 to 8.67%, the compound annual growth rate since 2006 still remains extremely healthy at 16.02%.
