Borrowing a page from our Malaysian friends

This is a testament to the rapid growth of Islamic finance globally over the past 40 years.  From humble beginnings, Islamic finance is on track to outpace conventional financing in Malaysia, a country with with a rapidly growing population of over 30 million people.  

The total sharia compliant banking assets in the UK at the end of the first half of 2018 were £4.1 billion (City UK).  This is a not insubstantial figure but compared to total liquid banking assets of £1 trillion (BoE) it shows there is a way to go for Islamic finance in the UK.  A regulatory environment that promotes leveling the playing field between conventional and alternative finance and a strong Islamic fintech sector can help to boost the growth of Islamic finance in the coming decades.  

Malaysia can expect half of its banking assets to be Islamic by 2030 as the industry’s growth outpaces conventional banking, according to a lenders’ association. Loans that comply with the religion’s ban on interest is set to increase by 10% to 15% annually over the next five years, outpacing the 5% to 7% growth seen for non-Islamic loans, said Adissadikin Ali, president of the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia, or Aibim.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-02/half-of-malaysia-s-banking-assets-to-be-islamic-in-next-decade