Commercial Bank of Dubai's (CBD) Islamic operations expects deposit growth of 20 percent in 2011 as funds from the UAE and countries hit by unrest lifts deposits, its Islamic banking head said.

CBD saw Islamic banking deposits climb to 10 percent of the bank's total deposits of about 30 billion dirhams at the end of 2010, said Nabil Tayeb Khoory on the sidelines of an Islamic banking seminar at the central bank on Thursday.

"There is a lot of liquidity in the region and with what's happening in the region, customers want security," he said. "We have security here in the UAE, particularly in Dubai."

Khoory said the Islamic bank is seeing funds coming from countries such as Egypt and Bahrain, which have been hit by political strife in the Gulf region.   

The executive added that while Dubai had suffered from stress during the financial crisis, the financial environment has improved. "You can say the problem is behind us," he said. - Reuters