Sami Ben Naceur, Adolfo Barajas and Alexander Massara
Can Islamic Banking Increase Financial Inclusion?
IMF, 2015
What's inside?
Muslims are flocking to financial institutions, but the rise of Islamic banking might not be the reason.
Recommendation
Some Muslims may avoid formal banking relationships to keep from running afoul of Sharia, so the growing Islamic financial sector would seem a likely vehicle through which to serve currently unbanked Muslim consumers and businesses. But according to economists Sami Ben Naceur, Adolfo Barajas and Alexander Massara, there’s little evidence of a correlation between Islamic banking and Muslims’ financial inclusion. While its topic is weighty, the report suffers from a somewhat muddled and disorganized presentation. Nonetheless, getAbstract recommends it to bankers and economists for its insights into the Muslim world’s complicated relationship with banking.
Summary
About the Authors
Sami Ben Naceur, Adolfo Barajas and Alexander Massara are economists at the International Monetary Fund.
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