New Islamic bank to set up shop in West Bank, Gaza

The founders of Palestine's brand-new Al-Safa Islamic Bank are working to open two branches in the West Bank and Gaza, where commercial banks vastly outnumber Islamic ones despite the wide demand for them.
Palestinians walk past a bank in the West Bank city of Ramallah March 25, 2015. Israel's decision to withhold $130 million a month in revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinians is strangling the economy and leaving the banking system dangerously exposed, the Palestinian central bank governor said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTR4UT8C
Palestinians walk past a bank in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 25, 2015. - REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
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Entsar Abu Jahal
@entsarabujahal
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The market share of Islamic banks in Palestine is remarkably low, no more than 11% in 2015. There are only four Islamic banks in Gaza, and the services they provide are limited.

Only two Islamic banks in Palestine are licensed by the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA), which acts as a central bank, in addition to two unlicensed others in the Gaza Strip.

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