(08 January 2013 – Malaysia) Islamic banking has grown in Malaysia, now accounting for a fifth of the country’s total banking assets.Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance reported that the Islamic banking business in Malaysia expanded in the first seven months of 2012 with total assets increasing 21 percent to US$154 billion (A$146 billion), or 24.1 percent of the country’s banking system’s assets.
In 2011, it expanded by 24 percent to US$143 billion or 23.7 percent of total banking system assets.
RHB Islamic Bank Bhd managing director Abdul Rani Lebai Jaafar told Asian Banking and Finance that Islamic finance in Malaysia is ready to move on to the next stage and compete more aggressively in the global financial market.
He believes Islamic finance appears to be equally accepted by both Muslims and non-Muslims due to continuous awareness programs and customer experience.
He noted that 2013 could be a challenging year as the issue of funding versus financing needs to be addressed. This problem has to do with sourcing funds to generate financing from very limited local resources.