Zubair Yaqoob Karachi
Pakistan’s Islamic banking industry has achieved remarkable benchmark in its brief history due to huge potential of the local market driven by the interest and acceptability of 74 percent population of the country.
This was stated by Dr Ishrat Hussain, Former Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) while speaking at the 12 Islamic Finance Expo and Conference 2023 held at a local hotel.
Dr Ishrat said the one-fourth population of the country is out of the banking system including the major areas of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtoon khawa (KPK) in which people maintain their savings in hard cash due to various factors.
He urged that the Islamic industry needs talented professional in multiple sectors to grow its size at accelerated pace. Director Islamic banking State Bank of Pakistan Ghulam Muhammad Abbasi said Islamic banking in Pakistan has been flourishing in leaps and bounds with consistent growth in values of assets and deposits.
He mentioned that a special committee has been constituted to implement the case of the Federal Shariat Court which included two directors from the central bank, one senior officer from SECP and senior officials of different banks.
UAE Consul General Bakheet Ateeq Al Romaithi said that Pakistan’s banks and their leadership foster unity and strong ties to bring improvement through Islamic banking. Islamic banking is getting popular in Pakistan and this opportunity should be availed off by the banking sector, he added.
Ateeq Ur Rehman, economic & financial analyst and Coordinator of Islamic Banking & Finance Conference while inaugurating the conference defined the difference between Conventional and Islamic Banking.
He emphasized that the Islamic Banking should invest in Human Capital particularly on Acquisition of Skills, women empowerment, education / health facilities, clean water and financial inclusion. Through Income disparity the Poverty is rising and the Inflationary Pressures has brought down middle class to lower class.
There has to be collateral free contribution by Islamic Banking on SMEs, Farmers, Startups, Renewable Energy and human Capital. At the occasion, the chairman Pakistan Observer Mr. Faisal Zahid Malik in a person-to-person discussion congratulated Ateeq Ur Rehman for organizing the event Islamic banking and extend his support for media projection.
Furthermore, Dr. June Kuncoro Hadiningrat, Consul General of Republic of Indonesia, Eng. Sami Abdullah Al Khanjari, Consul General, Consulate General Sultanate of Oman, Muhammad Raza – Group Head General Services & Customer Support, Meezan Bank Limited, Irfan Siddiqui, President & Chief Executive Officer, Meezan Bank Limited, Muhammad Atif Hanif, Chief Executive Officer, Al Baraka Bank Pakistan Limited, Jawad Majid Khan, President & CEO Bank Makramah Limited (formerly known as Summit Bank) Limited, Ghulam Muhammad Abbasi, Director Islamic Banking Department, State Bank of Pakistan, Dr. Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz, Chairman Shariah Advisory Committee, SBP and SECP, Syed Amir Ali, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Meezan Bank Limited, and SaleemUllah Shaikh, Head of Islamic Banking, Habibmetro Sirat were among the keynote speakers.
