'Islamic finance to play bigger role in global stage'

ISLAMIC finance is growing at an average of 15 per cent annually and gaining acceptance from the broader population in many countries, according to Institut Bank-Bank Malaysia chief executive officer Dr Mohd Kamal Khir.

"The total Islamic financial assets now exceed US$1 trillion (RM3.5 trillion), about fivefold its magnitude five years ago," Mohd Kamal said in conjunction with the Sixth International Islamic Finance Conference which opened in Kuala Lumpur last week.

According to him, the adoption of mainstream financial instruments by the Islamic finance community will see the sector playing a bigger role in global finance over the next decade.

"Such a development will not only further support the acceptance of Islamic finance, but also offer vast business opportunities made possible by the huge amount of Islamic funding available," he said.

"Players are quickly expanding their range of offerings by adopting some of the financial instruments available in the mainstream financial markets," said Monash University's Sunway campus chair of accounting and finance, Professor Bala Shanmugam.

He also said that the conference has emerged as an important international platform for the sharing of knowledge in Islamic finance. - Bernama