Manama, Sept 08: Arab investors are looking
increasingly to Islamic banks in the aftermath of the
September 11 terror attacks, which prompted a clampdown at
Washington's behest on suspect finances, bankers here said
today.
"In the three months after the attacks in the united
states, deposits in Islamic banks were up five percent on
their average," said Adnan Yussef, executive director of the
Bahrain Islamic Bank.
Yussef, speaking to a news agency on the sidelines of a meeting of
Arab Central Bank governors and heads of regional financial
institutions in Manama, attributed the increase to
"withdrawals of assets from western banks, notably American
ones".
"These withdrawals are estimated at between 150 and 20
million dollars," he said.
Yussef said Islamic Banks had drawn flak from the west
particularly politicians, through their "ignorance on the way
these banks work".
"But after visits to the region, banking officials and
economists have realised that these banks (in Bahrain) come
under the control of the Bahrain Monetary Agency like other
banks," he said.
Bahraini banker Abdullatif Janahi said the events of
September 11 had "not affected the activities of Islamic
Banks, although they raised a certain panic among depositors
because of governmental and non-governmental steps adopted" in
the fight against money laundering.
Bureau Report
