Bank of Khartoum, an Islamic institution which is Sudan's biggest privately owned bank, plans to open a wholesale banking branch in Bahrain, its first branch in the Gulf, its chief executive told Reuters.

"It comes logically because the bank's vision and ambition is to be the biggest financial institution in Sudan," said Fadi Salim Al Faqih, whose bank is majority-owned by Dubai Islamic Bank.

Bank of Khartoum has applied for a branch licence and is hoping to finalise the process of obtaining it within weeks, he said.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's central bank said on Wednesday that it had granted a licence to Turkish Islamic lender Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi, majority-owned by Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank, to open a wholesale branch in the country. It will be the bank's first branch outside Turkey. – Reuters