KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Islamic banking in Malaysia is continuing to be a “bright spot” for the banking industry here, with Islamic banking loans outperforming overall loans in the country over the past several years, BMI Research said today.
In its latest industry analysis, BMI Research said that Islamic banking’s share in the overall banking system now stands at 29 per cent, significantly higher than the 16.8 per cent share it had back in 2010.
“We expect the Islamic banking sector to continue growing as the government continues with its ongoing infrastructure development projects,” it said.
Islamic banking loans recorded a 11.2 per cent year-on-year growth in June, and a 11.6 per cent year-on-year growth in July.
In comparison, the overall banking loans only recorded 6.6 per cent and 5.6 per cent year-on-year growth for the same two months.
“The continued expansion of the Islamic banking sector will be supportive of overall loan growth in the country, and we maintain our forecast for loan growth to expand by 6.5 per cent year-on-year in 2017 and 2018,” it said.
BMI also said that plans to introduce programmes to certify professional qualifications in Islamic finance will be a positive development for human capital in the Islamic banking sector.
