15:57 - 4.12.2025

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December 4, Fineko/abc.az. (special news) In case of full introduction of Islamic banking in Azerbaijan, a market of 1.2 bn manats may be formed.

ABC.AZ informs that Ruslan Atakishiyev, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Economic Resources and PhD in Economics, said that there is a great interest in Islamic banking in Azerbaijan and recalled the research conducted in this area:

"According to a study conducted by the public association for the study of economic resources, the level of customers in our country is expected to be at the level of 33,000 or 35,000 if it is formed by Islamic banking. In addition, a study was conducted among 1,000 other entrepreneurs, and an average of 20% of those 1,000 entrepreneurs noted that they do not use the services of traditional banks due to the fact that interest-bearing loans are illegal from the point of view of Islam (Haram). 30% of clients noted that they are forced to use interest-bearing loans, even knowing that this is not allowed from angle of Islam. That is, on average, we see that there is a need, there is a market, and the calculation also shows that Islamic banking can initially demonstrate a 3% volume when fully introduced."

The legal framework for the full implementation of Islamic banking in our country is currently being developed. After development of this database, Islamic banking will be introduced more widely.

By Elmir Murad