Dr Rifki Ismal

INCEIF University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Rifki Ismal as Adjunct Professor.

Dr Rifki is the Deputy Director at Bank Indonesia (BI), the Central Bank of Indonesia, and has been a central banker for 24 years. His career spans the Economic Research and Monetary Policy Department (1999-2004), Islamic Banking Department (2011-2013), Financial Market Deepening Department (2014-2016) and the latest at the Islamic Economics and Finance Department (2017-now).

In 2017, Dr Rifki received the Best Central Bank Employee award from BI. In addition to his responsibility at BI, he was also assigned as a Researcher at the Bank for International Settlement in 2006 and an Assistant Secretary General of the Islamic Financial Service Board to head the Department of Standard and Research (2020-2022).

Dr. Rifki holds a strong academic background, with advanced degrees and qualifications of PhD in Islamic Banking & Finance from Durham University (UK), Master in Economics from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) and Bachelor in Economics from University of Indonesia. Prof. Rodney Wilson, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Prize Winner 2014, and Prof. Mehmet Asutay, Director of the Durham PhD programme, were his PhD supervisors. For his PhD, Dr Rifki was examined by Prof Habib Ahmed, the IsDB Prize for Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economics (First Prize 2022).

Dr Rifki’s expertise encompasses various aspects of Islamic finance including Islamic monetary and finance, Islamic banking and Islamic social finance. As a researcher in Islamic finance, he received the Best Researcher (rank number 1) in the National Research Competition on Islamic Finance (FREKS) organised by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK). As an academic, he is a lecturer in leading universities in Indonesia including University of Indonesia, Tazkia Institute and IPB University. Since 2002, he has published 76 academic papers in reputable journals (including Scopus indexed journals); 25 published chapters of books and reference books.

With a distinguished career in the field of Islamic and Middle Eastern finance, he has made significant contributions to research and academia in the specialised areas. Beyond his academic pursuits, Dr Rifki is actively involved in professional organisations and networks related to Islamic finance including as a member of Indonesia’s National Sharia Board (DSN). He is the founder of Sukuk Bank Indonesia and a founding member of CWLS (cash awqaf linked sukuk which received the IsDB Prize for Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economics 2023).