ICD signs and deploys second $50m Bahrain facility with Al Salam Bank

20/08/2026 03:21 AST

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector has signed a new $50 million line-of-finance facility with Al Salam Bank B.S.C. to expand access to Shariah-compliant funding for private-sector businesses in Bahrain.

The institution, known as ICD, said in a post on X the transaction was its second line-of-finance facility in Bahrain.

Bahrain's economy expanded by 3.5 percent in real terms in 2025, with financial and insurance activities growing 5.6 percent to account for 17.6 percent of real gross domestic product, making them the country's largest non-oil sector.

The International Monetary Fund said in January that Bahrain's banks remained profitable and well-capitalized, although private-sector credit growth remained weak, according to the Information and eGovernment Authority.

Financing purpose
ICD said the facility forms part of its broader efforts to support Bahrain's economic development, with the partnership aiming to "support the private sector growth, job creation, economic diversification, and Bahrain's long-term development priorities."

The corporation did not disclose the facility's maturity, pricing or allocation among economic sectors.

Bank position
Al Salam Bank's consolidated assets increased 14 percent to 8.05 billion Bahraini dinars ($21.36 billion) in 2025, while financing assets rose 11.1 percent to 4.1 billion dinars, according to its annual report.

Previous agreement
The latest transaction is separate from a $50 million Murabaha facility that ICD signed with Al Salam Bank during the Islamic Development Bank Group's annual meetings in Baku in June.

That earlier agreement was intended to provide onward financing to eligible Bahraini companies whose operations support, or could support, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and the wider private sector.

Arab News