Islamic banking grows in Bangladesh, no thanks to the authorities
The government and the central bank are both suspicious
IN MOTIJHEEL, the main business district in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, an iron fence and terrible traffic divide two branches of the country’s oldest private bank—a “conventional” one and an Islamic one. Abdus Sattar, manager of the Islamic one, says that when he joined AB Bank, in 2005, his was “a loser branch”. Today, like most Islamic banks in the country, it is more profitable and better run than its conventional peers. Islamic banking’s future in the country, however, remains murky.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Against the odds”
Finance & economics August 26th 2017
- Financial-market index-makers are growing in power
- Private-equity returns can be replicated with public shares
- Islamic banking grows in Bangladesh, no thanks to the authorities
- How the shape of global banking has turned upside down
- Are men more irrationally exuberant than women?
- Does ageing explain America’s disappointing wage growth?
- The “free” economy comes at a cost
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