Abstract
This Financial Insights report provides an update on the overall
performance of Islamic finance in the Asia/Pacific region during these
times of economic crisis. The current unstable financial environment spurred
by the U.S. subprime crisis is a perfect opportunity to
gauge the effectiveness of Islamic finance as an alternate financial
system to conventional finance.
Abhishek Kumar, senior research analyst, Asia/Pacific Banking
Advisory Service, notes, "The true test of any financial system
is to see how it performs in a crisis. Initial
statements of Islamic finance faring significantly better during the current
economic turmoil have proven to be premature for Asia/Pacific."
Research
has shown that though Islamic finance may have been spared
the direct impact of the subprime fallout, the indirect impact
has clearly affected the performance of shariah-compliant financial products and
services. Kumar concludes, "Despite such occurrences, Islamic finance in Asia
continues to grow at a rapid rate with countries such
as Indonesia and Pakistan working diligently to nurture Islamic financial
assets and replicate the success seen in Malaysia."
| 
View Cart
