Italy’s export credit agency SACE plans to move into Islamic finance, including developing business with Iran, where the banking system is designated Islamic, after the lifting of international sanctions in January. SACE said in April that it would guarantee credit lines of 4 billion euros which Italian state-run lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti would offer to companies building oil-and-gas and transport infrastructure in Iran, Gulf News reported. Marco Ferioli, head of SACE’s regional office in Dubai, which opened in February, said “conventional products are and will continue to represent the core of our business. Nevertheless, Islamic finance is growing across the region and we are increasingly receiving requests about that from some of our customers in markets like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran.”
