Arab countries account for 60% of global Islamic financial industry: Arab Monetary Fund

Dr Abdul Rahman Bin Abdullah Al Humaidi, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund, said that Arab countries account for about 60 percent of the global Islamic financial industry, which amounted to US$3 trillion by the end of 2021.

He added, in opening a remote course on “Accounting Standards for Islamic Financial Institutions” in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank, that building the capabilities of workers in this industry and the capabilities of the regulatory and supervisory authorities is a crucial element in the continuation of this industry's momentum, growth, and development.

Al Humaidi pointed out that setting accounting standards for Islamic finance institutions helps support the growth of the industry, achieves calibration and harmonisation between Islamic financial practices among Arab countries, or between practices in Arab countries and international practices. It also leads to the transparency of accounting disclosure, the reliability and credibility of financial statements, and facilitates the work of Islamic finance institutions in view of the challenges they face in applying international accounting standards due to the specificity of their work.

He stated that maintaining the Islamic financial industry's achievements requires focusing on capacity building and developing human resources with the skills and knowledge to work in this unique industry.

He continued, “To support its member states in capacity building, the Arab Monetary Fund has prioritised the Islamic financial industry by allocating part of its programmes to this important field. In this context, the Fund has organised this session on accounting standards for Islamic financial institutions.”

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