Bahrain top in the ranking of World’s Islamic finance economies

Bahrain top in the ranking of World’s Islamic finance economies

Manama Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have ranked in the world's top five Islamic finance economies, according to the latest annual Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI). The Kingdom, which has led MENA in all eight IFDIs to date, ranked in third place globally this year, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia ranking fourth and fifth respectively. 135 countries in total are ranked as part of the index. The IFDI is part of the annual Islamic Finance Development Report produced by Refinitiv and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector development arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The IFDI provides an annual rank for each economy in the global Islamic finance industry, aggregating scores across five areas – quantitative development, knowledge, governance, corporate social responsibility, and awareness. Bahrain's high ranking was based upon its robust and supportive regulation for Islamic finance and banking as well as increases in both the number of Islamic banking assets. Mr. Fahad Yateem, Director of Islamic Financial Institutions Supervision Directorate at the Central Bank of Bahrain said: “I am delighted that Bahrain has once again scored so highly in the IFDI, and particularly