Falling oil prices not likely to impact GCC

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is one of the world's leading regions in terms of economic growth, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Rasheed Al-Maraj has said.
It is hard to talk about an impact of the falling oil prices on the GCC economies, since matters are still at inception, Al-Maraj told KUNA on the sidelines of the 21st annual edition of the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2014) he opened here on Tuesday.
The drop in oil prices must not be taken with too much fears, as the region also owns enormous liquidity, a hyber-active private sector and several projects that stir the economy, he noted.
However, Al-Maraj stressed the need of planning for the future in case the drop continues, saying this will necessitate an economic review.
On the GCC banking sector, Al-Maraj said it is "excellent", due to the "plenty" of liquidity, and hardly can one find a single project facing financial problems.
Meanwhile, Al-Maraj said in his keynote address to WIBC 2014 that the transformation of global financial markets in recent years has resulted in a new paradigm which has challenged banking institutions to re-think their business strategies and models.
Given the continued rapid global expansion of Islamic finance industry and the rising inter-linkages between the key international jurisdictions, Islamic financial institutions are also experiencing a major phase of transformation," he added to the opening session of the event.
The three-day international event is held under auspices of Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa.
It is attended by leaders of Islamic finance from 50 countries and hundreds of regional and international institutions, to discuss critical issues that would enable Islamic finance to move towards a new growth paradigm in global financial markets.
Source: KUNA