Securing Islamic working capital financing for SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key constituents of the Islamic Economy, which typically need access to working capital financing to fund their ongoing operations. A growing number of SMEs seek Shariah-compliant financing but Islamic b anking has not adequately met this demand. There is an estimated gap of between $8.63 billion and $13.2 billion for Islamic SME financing to unserved and underserved SMEs in the MENA region, according to an International Finance Corporation report.