Examining the Comparative Efficiency of GCC Islamic Banking

By Dr. Mehboob ul Hassan, Md Fouad Bin Amin, Imran Khokhar & Muhammad Nauman Khan

Abstract

Purpose – This study examines the performance of GCC Islamic banking in terms of technical and scale efficiency for the period 2010-2019 at country as well as individual bank level.

Design/methodology/approach –It uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to measure the performance of Islamic banking industry of GCC, where the banks are considered as intermediation firms that transform the input into outputs. The study examines the performance of Islamic banking at country as well as individual bank levels. 

Findings–Islamic banking of Oman and UAE are the most and least efficient respectively. Islamic banking in Bahrain became the second top performing industry while Kuwaiti Islamic banking industry stands at second least performer.

Practical implications – The study suggest that there is  room for improving the managerial and operational policies in UAE Islamic banking industry to achieve efficiency. Moreover, Qatar and Bahrain can save some portion of their inputs by increasing their respective banking operations to an optimum scale. Some banks like Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Kuwait International Bank and Emirates Islamic Bank need to increase their overall technical efficiencies. Besides, other banks like Nizwa, Boubyan, Kuwait International, Sharjah Islamic and Emirates Islamic need to emphasis on pure technical efficiencies, and lastly Abu Dhabi Islamic, Kuwait International, Dubai Islamic, Nizwa and Albilad bank require paying attention to scale efficiencies.

Originality – The study is significant because it gives many interesting insights about the GCC Islamic banking industry and evaluates the efficiency of the Islamic banking at industry and individual bank levels. It uses the recent available data and applies DEA techniques that is one of the reliable techniques for such measurement.