Global Islamic finance forecast to grow as main markets recover - S&P

Reuters reports that S&P Global Ratings said that the $2.2 trillion global Islamic finance industry is expected to grow 10%-12% over 2021-2022 due to increased Islamic bond issuance and a modest economic recovery in the main Islamic finance markets.

The industry continued to grow last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, although at a lower pace than in 2019.

Islamic finance, which bans interest payments and pure monetary speculation, has been on the rise for many years across markets in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but it remains a fragmented industry with uneven implementation of its rules.

"Over the next 12 months, we could see progress on a unified global legal and regulatory framework for Islamic finance ... we believe that such a framework could help resolve the lack of standardisation and harmonisation that the Islamic finance industry has faced for decades," S&P said on Monday.

The industry is expected to receive some support in the coming two years in Saudi Arabia, where mortgages and corporate lending are expected to rise as the country pushes ahead with plans to diversify the economy.