The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Chair, Melis Turgunbaev, met with the leadership of the Central Bank of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings, with discussions focused on developing Islamic banking in Kyrgyzstan and expanding bilateral cooperation. The Kyrgyz side outlined its ongoing work to build a reliable legal, regulatory and institutional framework for Islamic banking, and highlighted the current priority of introducing the necessary monetary policy instruments, including tools compliant with sharia principles, to support effective monetary transmission and maintain market liquidity. Both sides confirmed plans to strengthen cooperation through expert exchanges and capacity-building between relevant departments.