COMCEC Financial Outlook 2018
3
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. Efficiencymeans 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.5
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, 19 countries are in OIC-Low Income Group (OIC-LIG);
15 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
(995 USD or less)
Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mozambique, Niger,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Syrian Arab
Republic, Gambia The, Tajikistan, Togo, Uganda,
Yemen
19
OIC-Lower middle
income group
(996 USD to 3,895 USD)
Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti,
Arab Rep. of Egypt, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic,
Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine,
Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan
15
OIC-Upper middle
income
(3,896 USD to 12,055
USD)
Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Gabon, Guyana, Iran,
Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia,
Maldives, Suriname, Turkey, Turkmenistan
16
OIC-High income group
(12,056 USD or more)
Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates 7
Source: World Bank 2018
5 Cihak, M., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Feyen E., Levine, R., 2012