M'SIA'S ISLAMIC FINANCE LESS AFFECTED BY GLOBAL TURMOIL

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- Islamic finance in Malaysia will be less
affected by the global economic crisis compared to conventional banking, says
the chief academic officer with International Centre For Education In Islamic
Finance (INCEIF), Prof Dr Syed Othman Alhabshi.

He said while the industry will also see a slight decline in growth, it
would be able to recover tremendously.

"We will see the growth slightly faster starting in the fourth quarter this
year," he told reporters here Wednesday.

The country's Islamic finance sector, which registered strong double digit
growth in the late 1990s, was also expected to grow faster than conventional
banking, Othman said.

Asked if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may worsen the current global
economic crisis, he said the issue may not impact much the global
climate.

It will not give that much impact as the global economic climate is already
bad, Othman said.

Asked on the current boycott by some Malaysians of US products, he said
business should continue as usual.

He also said Malaysia should continue to trade with the United States
although the world's largest economy was facing its worst downturn.

"I don't think we should stop trading with the US. We should trade with
them as much as we can as they will bounce back. It will take some time but they
will rebound," he added.

-- BERNAMA