ALGIERS, Algeria, May 20. There is a strong demand for Islamic financial services in Turkmenistan, reads the joint report of the Eurasian Development Bank, the Islamic Bank Institute and the London Stock Exchange Group.
It was presented during the IsDB annual meetings in Algiers, Trend’s special correspondent reports.
“In Turkmenistan, the Islamic finance industry is still in its
nascent stage, with no Islamic financial institution currently
operating in the country. However, there is a strong demand for
Islamic financial services, given the high Muslim population.
Efforts have been made to raise awareness, such as the Islamic
trade finance workshop organized by the International Trade Finance
Corporation (ITFC), a member of the IsDB Group, in 2022. The
workshop, which focused on operational aspects of Islamic banking,
attracted numerous
local financial institutions, indicating substantial interest in
the industry,” reads the report.
The authors note that with a mix of state, joint-stock, and overseas banks operating in Turkmenistan, the presence of Islamic windows could potentially benefit the country’s financial sector.
“Due to data inaccessibility, forecasting future Islamic finance assets in Turkmenistan remains challenging,” says the document.