DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, January 15. Moody's suggests that Islamic banking could significantly contribute to Tajikistan financial system's development, Trend reports.
According to Moody’s Investors Service, the private sector credit in Tajikistan is relatively small, making up only about 10 percent of the GDP in 2022, while it's 43 percent in Uzbekistan, 24 percent in Kazakhstan, and 22 percent in Kyrgyzstan. This indicates considerable growth potential for banks in Tajikistan, both Islamic and conventional.
In July 2019, Tawhidbank became Tajikistan's first Islamic bank, and still is the sole officially licensed Islamic bank in the country. Alif Bank is in the process of obtaining an Islamic banking license. Additionally, two microcredit organizations in Tajikistan offer Islamic financial services.
It was noted that, due to the relatively modest size of Tajikistan's banking sector, Islamic banking assets at Tawhidbank and Alif Bank represented approximately 8 percent of the total banking assets by the end of 2022.
Tajikistan's Muslim population makes up 10 percent of the total Muslim population in the CIS region. There are currently four fully-fledged Islamic banks operating in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
