Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar said at the inaugural Islamic Capital Markets (ICM) conference on Monday that National Savings will soon launch Shariah-compliant products for investors in the coming days.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar informed the conference that Pakistan has a strategic plan in place to grow Islamic finance. “In addition, we have created a national financial inclusion strategy that covers many of the components needed to create Islamic financing,” he added.
He announced that National Savings is planning to introduce Shariah-compliant solutions for investors. These offerings will meet the general public’s need for Sharia-compliant investments. They will be in the form of 1, 3, and 5-year term accounts with monthly, semi-annually, and end-to-maturity profit distributions. More details on the development will be shared soon, he stated.
On another note, Dar said Pakistan is one of the few countries with a well-developed regulatory framework for microfinance institutions. “I must compliment SBP and SECP for doing a wonderful job in this regard,” he said.
The minister explained that major financial markets exhibit solid evidence that Islamic finance has already been mainstreamed, parallel to the global financial system and that it has the potential to address the challenges of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.
Dar commented, “According to the Islamic Finance Development Report 2022, there are 1,679 Islamic financial institutions, including 560 Islamic banks operating in 76 countries, with 17 percent YoY growth”. In Pakistan, Islamic financing recorded a growth rate of 29 percent in 2022, he added.