Financial Outlook of the OIC Member Countries 2017
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In order to achieve a well-functioning system, financial markets require depth, access,
efficiency and stability. Depth means that financial institutions and financial markets are a
sufficient size. Access reflects the degree to which economic agents use financial services.
Efficiency means that financial institutions are able to successfully intermediate financial
resources, and to facilitate transactions. Finally, stability refers to low market volatility plus
low institutional fragility. These characteristics of the market have been measured by using
special indicators to compare financial systems across countries and over time.23
In this regard, the purpose of this outlook is to shed light on recent financial developments by
using the above mentioned characteristics of the financial markets and to analyze the financial
markets of the OIC countries over time.
In this Financial Outlook, OIC Member Countries have been categorized in four major groups
according to the World Bank Income Grouping Methodology (according to their GDP Per
Capita levels). According to this categorization, 15 countries are in OIC-Low Income Group
(OIC-LIG); 19 are in OIC Lower Middle Income Group (OIC-LMIG); 16 are in OIC-Upper Middle
Income Group (OIC-UMIG), and 7 are in OIC-High Income Group (OIC-HIGH) as shown in the
table below:
Table 1: Categorization of OIC Member States
CATEGORIES COUNTRIES NUMBER OF
COUNTRIES
OIC-Low income group
US$ 1045 or less
Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mozambique, Niger,
Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gambia The, Togo, Uganda 15
OIC-Lower middle
income group
US$ 1,046 to US$ 4,125
Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti
Egypt, Arab Rep., Guyana, Indonesia, Kyrgyz
Republic, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan,
State of Palestine, Senegal, Sudan, Syrian Arab
Republic, Tajikistan Uzbekistan, Yemen
19
OIC-Upper middle
income
US$ 4,126 to US$12,735
Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Gabon, Islamic
Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan,
Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Suriname,
Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan
16
OIC-High income group
US$ 12,736 or more
Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates 7
Source: World Bank
23 Cihak, M., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Feyen E., Levine, R., 2012