Business 24-7 has reported that the volume of Islamic loans over the course of the last 12 months has exceeded $5.6 billion in Saudi Arabia, which has been the largest lender. The loan volume in Qatar was the next highest at $2.75 billion, followed by the UAE at $900 million, Bahrain at $540 million, Turkey at $306 million and Kuwait at $293 million.

According to Business 24-7 recent report by Moody’s found that Islamic finance assets grew to $950 billion in 2009, in spite of the economic crisis. Moody’s estimates that the Islamic finance industry’s potential is worth at least $5 trillion.

According to industry experts, growth opportunities lie for Islamic finance in various areas including SME financing and also by tapping into the wealth of high net worth individuals which is estimated to increase at 8.1 percent on an average from 2009-2013, with Asia-Pacific and Middle East seeing the maximum increase in wealth.

For the original Business 24-7 story, please click here: http://www.business24-7.ae/banking-finance/islamic-finance/saudi-arabia-tops-in-islamic-loans-volume-2010-05-30-1.249651