More loans for Islamic SMEs from CIMB Bank

The Singapore unit of CIMB Bank is poised to expand its Islamic banking operations in a big way.

The bank aims to approve S$100 million this year for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. It plans to roll out its Islamic retail offerings soon as it has put in place a new core banking system that caters to its operations.

The bank also intends to launch its pioneering Islamic retail deposit products and its award winning Islamic structured products in the third quarter of this year.

“We are targeting about S$100 million for SME financing this year,” said Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, Head of Group Islamic Banking Division for CIMB Group.

He said the bank already has some S$30 million on its balance sheet with a healthy pipeline for the full year.

“The take-up rate of Islamic financing for SMEs has been encouraging although it is very early days for the industry in Singapore,” he noted.

He said the bank’s Islamic commercial banking operation has been growing in Singapore although the Muslim community makes up less than half of the population.

“When customers see there is good value in our Islamic finance products, they’ll take up these products,” he said.

CIMB Group is a regional universal bank operating in high growth economies in ASEAN. It claims to have the widest retail branch network in the region.