Indonesia climbing the ladder of Islamic finance development

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector development arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and Refinitiv, the world's leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today released with the support of KNKS the key findings of the seventh edition of the Islamic Finance Development Report at Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival 2019.

According to the Islamic Finance Development Report 2019, the Islamic finance industry’s assets grew to US$ 2.5 trillion in 2018 from US$ 2.4 trillion in 2017, a rise of 3 percent. The top-ranked developed countries in Islamic Finance industry are Malaysia, Bahrain, the UAE and Indonesia.  

Indonesia was one of the fastest-growing of the top 10 countries as a 37 percent increase in its IFDI score saw it jump from 10th position in the 2018 report to fourth in 2019. The country’s IFDI score was boosted by a stronger performance in the Islamic finance Knowledge indicator, which takes into account education and research, and improvements in Governance and Awareness. Indonesian Islamic finance assets amounted to $ 86 billion in 2018, a rise of 5% from $82 in 2017.

Several governments worked to develop roadmaps and enhance their regulatory frameworks for Islamic finance. Indonesia introduced its Masterplan of Sharia Economy 2019-2024, which encompasses a development framework, strategies and action plans to help the industry play a greater role in the country’s economy. One particular focus of this strategy is Islamic finance education, where Indonesia already leads the world.

Furthermore, Indonesia’s National Committee for Islamic Finance has partnered with a centralized QR code payment platform owned by four Islamic units of state-owned banks to develop a digital platform for distributing Islamic social finance funds and to help Islamic finance cooperatives better manage funds from zakat and waqf payments. Indonesia also saw the launch of the world’s first blockchain-based crowdfunding waqf.

© Press Releases 2019