Challenges facing the development of Islamic finance in the Maldives / Abdul Latheef Mohamed

Abstract:

Islamic Finance is growing in the Middle East, Malaysia and even in the United Kingdom and elsewhere at a fast pace. However in the Maldives it is seen that Islamic Finance is sluggish in growth as the country only had two IF institutes. On the other hand, there are, six conventional banks and three conventional insurance companies. Hence, it is evident that Islamic Finance does not develop in the Maldives as fast as it should be.
The objectives of this research were to identify the challenges facing the development of Islamic Finance in the Maldives for the sake of sustainable development of Islamic Finance in the Maldives, namely in the area of Existing Legal infrastructure, Existing regulatory and supervisory roles of the relevant authorities and giving recommendation on overcoming the challenges hindering the development of Islamic Finance in the Maldives.
The research question to be answered was "What are the challenges facing the development of Islamic Finance in the Maldives?"
This research employed the qualitative research method. As a sampling method purposive or judgmental sampling method was chosen. For data analysis, content analysis method was used.
The main findings of the study indicate that some challenges do exist that hinders the development of Islamic Finance in the Maldives in the areas of basic knowledge or awareness of Islamic Finance, Human Resource, legal infrastructure, Islamic Capital Marker, Tourism industry and Islamic Finance industry. However, among the findings there was no major challenge which may be impossible to remove.