Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s sharia finance assets have grown 15 percent to Rp2,375 trillion (around $156,6 million) as of December 2022, an official from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) said on Thursday.

"Domestically, alhamdulillah (praise be to God), the development of sharia finance continues to rise year by year," Friderica Widyasari Dewi, a member of OJK's Board of Commissioners, said during the “Strengthening Sharia Finance Literacy and Inclusion” webinar here.

With this growth, the sharia finance assets contributed 10.69 percent of Indonesia's total financial assets.

She said she is optimistic that Indonesia has a major opportunity to become the center of sharia economy and finance in the world, supported by a broad market share and growing sharia finance industry.

Moreover, Indonesia has the world's biggest Muslim population as well as a sharia finance industry network that is spread across all regions, she highlighted.

According to Dewi, Indonesia's sharia finance industry currently has potential and has shown development that is recognized internationally.

The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2022 pegged the total assets of Indonesia's sharia finance at US$119.5 billion, making Indonesia the country with the world's seventh-largest sharia finance assets.

In addition, the Islamic Finance Development Indicator 2022 also showed that Indonesia ranked third in global sharia finance after Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI), Juda Agung, said that sharia economy and finance literacy should be improved to expedite the development of sharia economy and finance in Indonesia.

Moreover, the use of technology and digitalization of the sharia economy should also be bolstered, he said during the “2023 Sharia Economic and Financial Outlook (Shefo)” here on Monday.

This will help expedite halal certification, sharia financing, and halal product exports, he said.

Related news: Ministry, BSI forge cooperation to boost economic, financial literacy
Related news: BSI committed to developing MSMEs' entrepreneurship: Minister


Translator: Martha H S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Anton Santoso
Copyright © ANTARA 2023