The Determinants of Liquidity: A Comparison of Islamic and Conventional Banks Covering the COVID-19 Period

Abstract

Banking and risk are synonymous concepts. The risk concepts for both conventional and Islamic banks are broadly similar, and liquidity risk is among the most important risks that all banks are exposed to. The management process of liquidity risk, which arises when banks do not have enough assets to meet their liabilities at maturity, may differ in conventional and Islamic banks. This study aims to present a comparative analysis of the liquidity determinants of conventional and Islamic banks operating in Turkey. Using the data of 3 Islamic and 17 conventional banks for the period between 2011Q1-2022Q2, the analysis, which also aims to see the short and long-term effects, concludes that the determinants of liquidity risk for conventional and Islamic banks are largely similar. However, the liquidity of Islamic banks is more sensitive to bank-specific variables. The findings showed that Islamic banks, which cannot use all of the conventional liquidity management tools in the liquidity management process for different reasons, have to hold higher liquid assets than conventional banks in the short term, even if they are balanced in the long term.