Chairperson of Iraqi Islamic Banks Assembly Sadiq Al Shamri expressed his support for the Islamic banking sector in Iraq, saying that it could perform a major role to push forward the Iraqi economy during the coming period. He stressed the need for qualifying employees working in this sector to meet the international standards in this regard
He criticized the Iraqi government for its delay in taking serious measures to treat the challenges facing the Islamic banks, saying that International Monetary Fund (IMF) called the Iraqi government for taking serious measures to benefit from the Islamic banks and to develop them.
He added, in an interview with "Egypt Today", that the studies they conducted recently proved that the Islamic banks managed to attract large amounts of money working outside the banking framework, adding that a large number of Iraqi people are convinced not to deal with the ordinary banks and turned to deal with the Islamic banks.
He stressed the need for amending the laws to allow the country's Islamic banks compete with their ordinary counterparts, saying that the Islamic banks suffer from exclusion and marginalization. He added that they have been deprived from the Mortgage Finance programs adopted by the Iraqi government.
He added that the Islamic banks aspire to seize 15 percent of the total banking assets in 2022, as it already gained five percent during 2016, according to formal reports, while the reports faced critical challenges, including the banking legislations.
He blamed the current laws for their failure to compete with the other banks in a number of economic vital sectors, stressing that the current approach undermines the role that could be performed by the Islamic banks to push forward the Iraqi economy.