The rules aim to accelerate the growth of Islamic banking in Pakistan. Overall assets and deposits of the Islamic banking industry showed tremendous growth of 30% and 28% respectively in 2020. Siddiqui said the Islamic banking industry had left behind conventional banking on multiple fronts. “The SBP has targeted to increase Islamic banks’ market share (in terms of deposits) to 25% by 2023.”Similarly, Prime Minister Imran Khan has set a target to increase the market share of Islamic banks to 30% by 2025. “Islamic banking is growing on demand as the cost of financing from Shariah-compliant banks remains low compared to the conventional banks,” he said, adding that this feature would continue to promote Islamic banking in Pakistan.

Source: The Express Tribune March 25, 2021 03:45 UTC