World Islamic Finance Summit 2011 : SBP offers incentives to Islamic banks

Islamic banking share expected to increase to 12 per cent.

KARACHI:

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Islamic Banking Director Saleemullah has said that the central bank is giving incentives to Islamic banks that are opening branches in far-flung areas of the country to fuel growth of the industry.

He said this while talking to a group of journalists at the launch of the ‘World Islamic Finance Summit 2011’ logo on Wednesday. The two-day summit is scheduled to be held in Karachi on September 21-22. SBP recently launched a policy with the objective of providing incentives for Islamic banks to set up branches in districts where they have less than 10 branches, he said.

“Islamic banks are facing challenges like capacity building, product development and creating awareness,” he said.

Saleemullah said that many prominent international Shariah scholars and experts would discuss challenges to Islamic banking during the conference. “This will help us in accelerating the pace of growth in Islamic banking,” he added.

Saleemullah hoped that the share of Islamic banking in Pakistan would increase from the present seven per cent to 12 per cent in the next three years.

He also invited stakeholders from the financial sector, especially the institutions engaged in extending Islamic finance, to actively participate in the summit, which is being held with the support of SBP.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2011.