Bank Specific And Macroeconomic Determinants Of Islamic Banks’ Profitability

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the main factors that affect the financial performance of Islamic banks for a sample of 10 banks working in: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, United Emirate and Saudi Arabia, over the period 2008-2018. The dependent variables under investigation are return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The factors that influence bank profitability are distinguished into two groups: bank-specific (internal) factors and macroeconomic (external) factors. The fixed effects panel regression model was used in the analysis, the results of the stationarity test indicates that all the variables are stationary at the level, more over the study findings show that: First, The is no impact of the following variables: credit, liquidity risk, LIQ 1 and LIQ2, exchange rates and inflation on the financial performance of Islamic banks represented by the rate of return on equity (ROE) and the rate of return on assets (ROA). Second, The is an impact of liquidity represented by the ratio of total deposits to total loans (Liq3) and GDP and efficiency on the financial performance of Islamic banks represented by rates of return on equity (ROE) and rate of return on assets (ROA).