Excerpt:
Key findings published this week from Belgium's first independent market study, Islamic finance in Belgium – sizing the retail market points to a very strong interest from local Muslim consumers in Islamic finance products and services. Over 70 per cent of survey respondents interviewed for the study have indicated their likelihood to take up such services if local banks were to begin offering them.
Islamic finance in Belgium – sizing the retail market was independently commissioned by the Association for the Development of Islamic Finance (ADEFI) in conjunction with IFAAS (Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services).
The report sets out the market opportunities for financial institutions interested in developing an offering for the Belgian consumer market, and analyses Muslim consumers' current consumption of financial products and services and their attitudes towards conventional, interest-based retail finance. It then gauges their predisposition to change from conventional products to Islamic products, such as loans and savings accounts, their price elasticity towards these products and their likely speed of response to the launch of such products.