Al Salam Bank is looking for further expansion at a time when Islamic banking is booming, it was announced yesterday.
Speaking at the Algeria Economic Forum, the bank’s managing director Hussain Mohammed Al Meeza said it was estimated that Islamic banks’ total assets were hovering around $450 billion and expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2010.
“The golden age of Islamic banking and high patronage they enjoy encouraged us to launch the Salam Bank Group which continues to witness rapid growth and prosperity day by day,” he said.
“We started with Salam Bank of Sudan, then with Salam Bank of Bahrain and now with Salam Bank of Algeria. We will soon open more in other Arab countries.
“All financial institutions’ reports point to significant growth of assets and liabilities of Islamic banks in all Islamic countries, except Iran,” he said.
“Islamic banks are growing at higher rates than other banks and this is helping in creating a conducive climate in the banking sector.”
He said profit margins being achieved by Islamic banks and financial institutions are better than those being achieved by their traditional counterparts in many Arab countries.
“There are about 270 Islamic banking and financial institutions in various parts of the world, including 34 in Bahrain, which is the main hub of these banking institutions in the Middle East region,” he said.
Islamic Finance Resource 