Turkey's Islamic banks, or participation banks as they are called in the country, saw their net profits surge 34.1 percent in 2018 to 2.1 billion liras ($388.2 million), according to data from the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB).

Total assets held by five Islamic banks in 2018 jumped 29.1 percent to 206.8 billion liras at the end of 2018 compared to 160.1 billion liras end-2017.

This accounts for 5.3 percent of Turkey's total banking assets in 2018, up from 4.9 percent a year earlier.

Osman Akyuz, head of TKBB, told state-owned news agency Anadolu that he expects the sector's assets to grow over 30 percent in 2019, saying this year "will be more productive for Turkey economically".

The government wants participation banking assets to reach 15 percent of the market by 2025.

($1 = 5.4712 Turkish liras)

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