Islamic banking growing rapidly: Shaikh

ISLAMABAD: The Islamic principles of finance have proved their viability as Islamic banking and finance is growing at a rapid pace globally, said Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day international conference on Islamic business and finance here on Tuesday, the minister said that the size of Islamic banking is expected to reach $1.3 trillion worldwide in the near future. He added that at present more than 1,100 institutions were offering Islamic financing services across the globe.

The size of investments in the Islamic banking system reached Rs424 billion in 2010 in the country, Shaikh said, adding the government was taking more measures to encourage Islamic banking and finance.

The  aim of the conference was to discuss the present state of Islamic business and finance and how the system could contribute to the stability and provide opportunities to economies.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2011.