CIRS has published both English and Arabic versions of the "International Relations of the Gulf Summary Report" includes twelve synopses of the papers delivered at the two "International Relations of the Gulf working group" meetings in June 2008 and Januray 2009, as well as biographies of all...

Due to restrictive foreign exchange policy and active parallel markets for foreign exchange in some developing countries, it is often believed that the real official exchange rate is undervalued (overvaluing in domestic currency). Since an overvalued domestic currency depresses official current...

This paper addresses the issue of how the stability of the Greek economy will be affected by Greece’s accession to the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The theoretical basis for most of the discussion of this issue to date is found in the theory of optimum currency areas (OCA),...

The Middle East has become the largest external supplier of imports to the European Community, and is also the EC's largest export market. Rising oll prices have not only affected the value of EC imports from the Middle East, but have also ultimately determined the ability of the Middle Eastern...

The Middle East has become the largest external supplier of imports to the European Community, and is also the EC's largest export market. Rising oll prices have not only affected the value of EC imports from the Middle East, but have also ultimately determined the ability of the Middle Eastern...

Almost three decades have passed since the founding of the first modern Islamic bank in the small Egyptian delta town of Mit Ghamr. Islamic banking has developed so remarkably in the last quarter century, that it is hard to believe that the movement is so young.The main expansion occurred in the...

Islamic finance has become increasingly significant in financial centres in the West, notably London, despite the regulatory hurdles presented by operating in a nonMuslim financial environment. The growth of Islamic finance partly reflects demand from Muslim resident and non-resident clients for...

The article by Hamid Zangeneh and Ahmad Salam is a welcome departure in the Islamic finance literature, as relatively little has been written about the role of central banks in an Islamic financial system. The authors review the major functions of central banks, and then discuss how monetary...

It is important to acknowledge earlier shortcomings in any branch of academic enquiry with hindsight, even though for many, self-criticism of one's own earlier work is often difficult. In this context it is refreshing to read Nejatullah Siddiqi, a leading pioneer of Islamic economic thought over...