IMF - Statement at the Conclusion of an IMF Staff Visit to Turkey

www.imf.org - Press Release No.12/208 - June 8, 2012

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, headed by Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, visited Istanbul and Ankara on May 31–June 6, 2012 to discuss recent economic developments and preparations for the 2012 Article IV consultation discussions. The team met with senior officials and staff at the Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, and Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, as well as representatives of the business community.  (source)

IMF - Statement by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the Conclusion of Her Visit to Turkey

www.imf.org - Press Release No.12/171 May 11, 2012
Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made the following statement today at the conclusion of her visit to Istanbul, Turkey, where she met with the authorities and attended the 7th Investment Advisory Council.
"It has been a pleasure to be back in Turkey on the occasion of my first visit as Managing Director of the IMF. I was especially pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as with Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, and Minister of Economy Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan.
"I congratulated the Prime Minister and his colleagues on the reforms and achievements of the last ten years that have led to macroeconomic stability and enabled a major transformation of the Turkish economy.
"The economy is now at a critical juncture. Economic growth is projected to decelerate this year. The deceleration in growth has its benefits, allowing a reduction in the current account deficit and inflation, two areas which require special attention.  (source)

ARTICLES - Deconstructing The International Business Cycle: Why Does A U.S. Sneeze Give The Rest Of The World A Cold?

Summary: The 2008 crisis underscored the interconnectedness of the international business cycle, with U.S. shocks leading to the largest global slowdown since the 1930s. We estimate spillover effects across major advanced country regions in a structural VAR (SVAR) using pre-crisis data. Our new method freely estimates the contemporaneous correlation matrix for underlying shocks in the VAR and (uniquely, to our knowledge) the associated uncertainty. Our results suggest that the international business cycle is largely driven by U.S. financial shocks with a significant impact from global shocks, mainly reflecting commodity prices. Other advanced economic regions play a much smaller and regional role in growth spillovers. Our findings are consistent with the emerging evidence on the current crisis.

PUBLICATONS - REPORTS - IMF - Islamic Banks: More Resilient to Crisis?

Also see : http://islamicfinanceturkey.blogspot.com/2010/09/since-global-financial-crisis-started.html

Also see : http://islamicfinanceturkey.blogspot.com/2010/09/articles-imf-effects-of-global-crisis.html

A new IMF study compares the performance of Islamic banks and conventional banks during the recent financial crisis, and finds that Islamic banks, on average, showed stronger resilience during the global financial crisis.

BANKING - 'Islamic banks fared better during financial crisis'

Since the global financial crisis started to unfold in 2008, there have been several reports suggesting that Islamic banks have been less affected by the crisis because they are not allowed for ethical reasons to invest in the pernicious derivatives such as CDOs (credit default obligations) that precipitated the worst crisis the world has seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Such reports have largely been based on oversimplified assumptions about Islamic finance and in a few instances on an emotional attachment based more on religiosity than on dispassionate non-descriptive empirical analysis.

ARTICLES - IMF - The Effects of the Global Crisis on Islamic and Conventional Banks: A Comparative Study

Summary: This paper examines the performance of Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) during the recent global crisis by looking at the impact of the crisis on profitability, credit and asset growth, and external ratings in a group of countries where the two types of banks have significant market share.

Our analysis suggests that IBs have been affected differently than CBs. Factors related to IBs‘ business model helped limit the adverse impact on profitability in 2008, while weaknesses in risk management practices in some IBs led to a larger decline in profitability in 2009 compared to CBs. IBs‘ credit and asset growth performed better than did that of CBs in 2008-09, contributing to financial and economic stability. External rating agencies‘ re-assessment of IBs‘ risk was generally more favorable.

SUKUK - Kuveyt Turk's debut sukuk to open door for Turkey

LONDON: One of the potentially most important developments in the global sukuk market this year is the launching in August of a 3-year $100 million Wakala sukuk by Istanbul-based Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, in which global Islamic banking major, Kuwait Finance House (KFH), has a controlling 62 percent equity stake.

VIDEO - IMF - Islamic finance - Abbas Mirakhor, Dean of the IMF's Executive Board (18-09-2007)

The interview is somewhat older, but I thought it was still a nice idea to share it with you. Enjoy.
http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=78910241001 

ARTICLE - BANKING - IMF - Islamic Banking : how was it difused ?

Patrick Imam and Kangni Kpodar, Islamic banking : how was it difused ?, IMF Working paper, African Department, Aug 2010 - WP/10/195

can be downloaded here : http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10195.pdf

see original post : http://islamicfinanceindonesia.blogspot.com/2010/08/banking-911-attacks-gave-rise-to.html

BANKING - 9/11 attacks gave rise to Islamic banks: IMF

Muslim investors chose Islamic banking since they feared US freeze  

The 2001 September terror attacks in the United States have given rise to Islamic banks worldwide as Muslim investors kept their funds at home in fear of any US freeze decision, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

But a stronger positive impact on the mushrooming of Islamic banks was the sharp rise in oil prices, which coincided with the September 11 attacks, the IMF said in a study on Islamic banks published on its website this week.

"Our results suggest that the September 11th attack on the United States had a positive impact on assets of Islamic banks, perhaps because Muslim investors, who have traditionally invested in the West, were compelled to keep more money at home for fear of expropriation, for instance," the Washington-based IMF said.