Islamic financial institutions will require an increase in capital if they have advantage of growth opportunities, said Central Bank of Bahrain Governor Rasheed Al Maraj.

He was speaking at the opening session of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI)-World Bank Annual Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa yesterday.

According to Al Maraj, more financial and technical support for infrastructure institutions is also needed to enable them to develop better accounting and auditing standards, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

"The AAOIFI is currently finalising the issuance of revised accounting standards relating to investment accounts," the institution's secretary-general and chief executive Khalid Al Fakih said.

"We are also working on revision of four existing accounting standards on takaful," he stated.

"Revision of existing standards on Mudaraba and Ijarah and development of a new accounting standard on issuance of sukuk are the other projects.

"The AAOIFI is also continuing work on the development of a new governance standard on Sharia supervisory boards in institutions and revision of existing auditing standards," added Al Fakih.-TradeArabia News Service