Political divisions slow Islamic finance in Egypt

CAIRO/DUBAI- AlexBank, one of Egypt’s biggest commercial banks, says it expects to launch Islamic financial services next April. But the country’s political divisions mean the regulatory environment in which the bank will operate is not clear.

Last year’s ouster of president Hosni Mubarak, whose regime neglected or discouraged Islamic finance for ideological reasons, has cleared the way for rapid growth of Islamic finance in Egypt, bankers believe.

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