The governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), Rasheed al-Maraj, said on Wednesday that British efforts to attract more Islamic banking business were a positive development for the region and the sector, according to dpa. Al-Maraj, who was speaking during the one-day Middle East Financial Services Summit in Manama, welcomed recent comments by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown who called for Britain to become a centre of Islamic finance. Brown, who is a likely candidate to replace British Prime Minister Tony Blair, during an address at the Islamic Finance and Trade Conference in London said that he wanted to make Britain a gateway for Islamic finance, adding that recent reforms of the British tax system made compliance with Islamic Sharia law easier. Last April Lloyds TSB become the first bank in Britain to offer a business account that complies with Islamic law through all of the bank's 2,000 branches. The accounts do not pay interest to customers and will not invest their money in industries such as gambling and alcohol. "This will help Islamic banking get out of its regional limitation," al-Maraj said. "Being accepted by a recognized, well- operated and regulated market like the London market gives the sector a good boost." Bahrain is considered a financial hub for the Middle East region and has advanced Sharia compliant regulations in place to govern Islamic financial institutions alongside regular banks. According to 2006 CBB figures there were 365 banks and financial institutions operating in Bahrain by the end of 2005, contributing 27.6 per cent to the country's GDP. More than 30 of these were Islamic institutions. The global market for the Islamic financial sector is estimated to worth more than 200 billion dollars. Al Maraj also downplayed reports of a possible delay in adopting a unified Gulf currency by 2010, saying that the relevant committees were working to resolve the differences before they meet again in September to re-assess the situation.
