Doha: The assets of Islamic banks in Qatar were QR195bn at the end of 2012 compared to QR8.8bn 10 years ago, Governor of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Sheikh Abdullah bin Soud Al Thani said yesterday.
Speaking at Oman’s Second Islamic Banking and Finance Conference the governor of QCB said the assets of Islamic banking represent 23.8 percent of the assets of the entire banking sector, up from 14 percent back in 2002. Deposits in Islamic banks represent 26.6 percent of the deposits in the banking sector. Islamic banks have a total of QR121.6bn in deposits. Profits of Islamic banks jumped to QR3.8bn during the same period.
One of the results of the increased demand for Islamic banking services, the governor said, were that commercial banks asked in 2005 for offering their own Islamic banking services.
The Central bank granted the request to increase competitiveness of the Islamic banking sector. The assets of Islamic banking services offered by commercial banks are QR45.7bn, representing 31 percent of the total assets of the banking sector, he noted. QNA
