Report highlights potential of Islamic finance in Saudi Arabia
With almost $900 billion assets, Islamic finance can be a catalyst to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, according to a new report by The Islamic Research and Training Institute of the Islamic Development Bank Group.
The institute released the first detailed study of its kind - called the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Country Report - covering the Islamic finance sector in the Kingdom.
Under the theme “Islamic Finance in Saudi Arabia: Leading the Way to Vision 2030”, the report analyses the outlook, trends, and prospects of Islamic finance in the Kingdom.
The report states that, by the end of 2018, Islamic finance assets in Saudi Arabia reached $879.2 billion (SAR3,297 billion), making the Kingdom the largest Islamic finance market globally in economies with dual financial systems comprising both conventional and Islamic financial sectors.
Saudi Arabia could become a global leader in the Islamic financial services industry particularly by capitalizing on its distinctiveness in two areas: Awqāf - Islamic endowments; and mobilizing resources for the SMEs through ṣukūk, equity, crowdfunding, and venture capital.
