The islamization of the economy and the development of islamic banking in pakistan - Free Essay Example

The Islamization of the Economy and the Development of Islamic Banking in Pakistan 1. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to analyse the efforts that have been made and measures that have been taken to Islamise the Pakistan economy, especially in field of the banking and financial. This analytical study is composed of four major sections. Section 1 explains the objectives and purposes of the study. In Section 2, I have made a step by step examination of the nature, effectiveness and implications of strategic policies and measures taken to Islamise the banking and financial institutions prior to the historic judgment of the Lahore High Court that the Islamic Shariahwas the supreme law of the land. After the evaluation I have point out some of the factors that have hindered the Islamisation process in Pakistan. In Section 3, I have examined the strategies and efforts made into the re-launch of the establishment process of Islamic banking after the judgment of the Supreme Court. Finally, Section 4 I have expressed some future expectations about Islamic banking and recommend some directions for the development of Islamic banking. 2. A Historical Perspective of Islamisation Measures Taken Prior to the Judgment of the Supreme Court Islam was the basis for demanding a separate and independent country within the British ruled Indian sub-continent. The freedom movement of Pakistan was based on the two-nation philosophy, which stated that the Hindus and Muslims of India were two different nations each having her own religion, customs and lifestyle. Pakistan was created so that its people could live according to Islamic teachings and principles. Today the world is beginning to recognize the significance of the Islamic finance industry, but in Pakistan the importance of adopting an Islamic economic system was stressed soon after its independence sixty years ago. Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) emphasized the virtues of Islamic principles. In his historic address at the inauguration of the State Bank of Pakistan on July 1, 1948, he said: I shall watch with keenness the work of your organization in evolving banking practices compatible with Islamic ideas of social and economic life. We must work towards our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on the true Islamic concept of the equality of manhood and social justice. Soon after the independence several strategic measures, both at constitutional and institutional levels were taken for the inducement and implication of Islamic principles in the state affairs. In following sub-sections we will examine these measures in a gradual order. 2.2 Measures Taken at the State Bank of Pakistan During the first decade of the establishment of the State Bank of Pakistan, no substantive research work could be done for the promotion or development of an Islamic economy [State bank of Pakistan as there was no economist in the country well acquainted with both the basic principles of Islamic fiqh and contemporary economics [State Bank of Pakistan 2000: 609]. In 1963, the State Bank prepared a comprehensive note for the benefit of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on various issues related to the problem of riba. The council gave its views in 1969, stating that modern interest falls under the definition of ribaand therefore must be abolished from all banking and financial institutions. In 1978, the Islamic Economics Division of the State Bank of Pakistan completed an in-depth study of various ingredients of the Islamic financial system including mudarabah, shirkah(shirkah, shirakahor musharakah: a specific device of Islamic finance similar to Joint venture), salam(a specific f inancial mode of Islamic finance where the seller undertakes to supply specific goods to the buyer at a future date in exchange of an advanced price fully paid at spot. The price is in cash but the supply of purchased goods is deferred), murabahah, zakat usherand other related issues. This Division served as the hub of the national effort to mark out an overarching financial system compliant with Shariahprinciples. It served as the secretariat of the meetings of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the Panel of Economists and Bankers, and six special work groups that were entrusted with the job of hammering out the details for transforming the financial system. 2.2.1 Formation of Special Working Groups at the State Bank In a meeting on the April 8th, 1979, six work groups were formed to study in-depth the issues for the abolition of ribaand to transform the financial institutions. These work groups were to cover the following fields of finance: Government transactions. State Bank of Pakistan: Domestic transactions and bank monetary policy. Bank deposits, Inter-Bank relations and bank management. Loans for fixed investment in industry, agriculture, construction, etc. Financing of working capital requirements. Co-operative credit system. In February 1980, the Panel of Economists and Bankers, established under the supervision of the State Bank of Pakistan, gave its detailed final report which was submitted to the government, through the CII, in June 1980. This report prescribed a time frame, according to which the process of eliminating interest in Pakistan was to be completed by July, 1982. 2.2.2 Development of Permissible Modes of Finance For conducting Islamic banking operations in practice, the State Bank of Pakistan issued its Circular No. 13; dated June 20th, 1984 and approved the following twelve modes of finance to be used by all banks carrying out banking activities in Pakistan. These financial techniques or modes can be classified into three categories: A. Trade related/type modes of financing mark-up/cost plus sale mark-down buy-back leasing hire-purchase development charges B. Investment related/type modes of financing musharakah equity participation participation term certificate (PTCs) rent sharing C. Loan related modes i.e. financing by lending loans carrying service charges qard-ul-hasan(beneficiary loan) 2.4 Judgments of the Supreme Court on Banking Practices The procedure adopted by banks after July 1985 was based largely on mark-up techniques with or without a buy-back arrangement. Consequently it was eventually declared un-Islamic by the Federal Shariah Court (FSC) in a judgment in November 1991. The government appealed against the Federal Shariah Courts judgment to the Shariah Appellate Bench (SAB) of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The Supreme Court too, in its historic judgment on December 23rd, 1999, rejected the governments appeals and asked the government to remove all laws involving interest before June 30th, 2001 [SAB Supreme Court of Pakistan 2000: 468]. The Court declared many of the prescribed modes of investment and finance designed by SBP, and the practices of the commercial banks using these modes as un-Islamic. The judgment of the court concluded that: All prevailing forms of interest, either in banking transactions or in private transactions fall within the definition of riba. Any interest stipulated in government borrowings acquired from domestic or foreign sources are ribaand clearly prohibited by the Holy Quran. The present financial system, based on interest, is against the injunctions of Islam as laid down by the Holy Quran and Sunnah, and in order to bring it into conformity with the Shariah, it has to be subjected to radical changes. The court asked the government to set up a Commission for Transformation of Financial System (CTFS) and for two task forces to be set up to plan and implement the process of this transformation. Thus, the CTFS was constituted in January 2000 by the SBP under the chairmanship of I.A. Hanfi, a former governor of the SBP. A task force was set up in the Ministry of Finance to suggest ways in which interest could be eliminated from government financial transactions. Another task force was set up in the Ministry of Law to suggest amendments to the legal framework to implement the courts judgment. However the government, working through a public sector bank, went to court to ask for an extension of the date until 2006. The court gave only a years extension to its earlier June 30th, 2001, deadline. The government constituted a high level commission and a number of task forces and committees to study the prospects of transforming the interest based financial system of the time into a Shariahcompliant system and to format the transformation plan. However they all arrived at the obvious conclusion that the transformation of the financial system as a whole was not possible in the short term due to a variety of factors. In fact, the complexity of the branch networks of national, foreign and state-owned and private commercial banks, an absence of committed and sustained efforts, and a lack of genuine support from various segments of society resulted in the failure of Islamization process. Indeed, developing a successful, workable and complete model of Islamic banking was a complex and difficult task for the government, especially in the case a developing country like Pakistan. Therefore, it was decided in the year 2001 to compromise by promoting Islamic banking on a parallel basis wi th the conventional banking system. The worse was yet to come. All the efforts that had been made to introduce Shariahcompliant Islamic banking received a serious blow when on June 21st, 2002, while reviewing a petition by United Bank Limited (UBL), the Supreme Courts SAB set aside all the previous judgments in this regard, including its own historic decision of December 23rd, 1999, and the November 1991 decision of the Federal Shariah Court (FSC). Horrified by this turn of events, the Shariah Appelates Bench (SAB) of the Supreme Court asked the FSC to re-hear the original case. Since then, the case has been collecting dust in a long line of cases still waiting to be reviewed. Consequently, the efforts to transform the banking and financial institutions of Pakistan took a new turn, which in time lead the State Bank and other authorities to mark out a new strategy for altering the existing practices of the countrys financial institutions. It should be remembered throughout all this that the commandments and views of Hol y Quran on the prohibition of ribaare clear and unequivocal. Moreover, the constitution of Pakistan 1973, in its Article 227 states that all existing laws shall be brought into conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Article 37 of the same (1973) constitution dealing with the Principle of Policy states that it is the duty of the State to eliminate ribaas early as possible. There is complete unanimity among all schools of religious thought that the term ribacovers interest in all its manifestations. 3. Post Judgment Measures Taken for the Re-launching of Islamic Banking Since the measures undertaken for the transformation of state owned banks from the existing conventional system to a Shariahcompliant system could not be brought to a satisfactory outcome, it was decided to establish an independent statutory body for this purpose. The Commission for the Transformation of the Financial System (CTFS) was constituted in January 2000 in the State Bank of Pakistan [State Bank of Pakistan 2002: 192]. A task force was set up in the Ministry of Finance to work out ways to eliminate interest from the governments financial transactions. Another task force was set up in the Ministry of Law to draw up amendments to the legal framework to implement the courts judgment. The CTFS constituted a Committee for the Development of Financial Instruments and Standardized Documents in the State Bank to prepare model agreements and financial instruments for the new system. The First Interim Report of the CTFS submitted in October 2000, identified a number of prior actions w hich needed to be taken in order to prepare the ground for the transformation of the countrys financial system. The Second Interim Report submitted in May 2001, identified major Shariahcompliant modes of financing, mapped out their essentials, drafted a seminal law captioned The Islamization of Financial Transactions Ordinance, 2001, drew up model agreements for major modes of financing, and wrote guidelines for the conversion of the products and services of banks and financial institutions. The Final Report, made by combining the two above mentioned reports, was sent to the government in August 2001. The Commission also dealt with major products of banks and financial institutions, both assets and liabilities, such as letters of credit or guarantee, bills of exchange, term finance certificates (TFCs), State Banks refinance schemes, credit cards, interbank transactions, underwriting, foreign currency forward cover and various kinds of bank accounts. This report contained a recommend ation for forestalling willful default and safeguarding the banks, their depositors and their clients against such losses. According to the Commission, prior/preparatory works for the introduction of a Shariahcompliant financial system in brief included creating a legal infrastructure conducive to the working of the Islamic financial system, launching a massive education and training program for bankers and their clients and an effective campaign through media to create an awareness among the general public about the implications of an Islamic financial system. 3.2 Measures Taken at the State Bank of Pakistan It was decided that the shift to an interest free economy would be made in a gradual and phased manner so as not to cause any disruptions. The State Bank of Pakistan took the essential steps and adopted the following strategy to promote Islamic banking in Pakistan. SBP expressed its commitment to introducing Islamic banking in the country on a parallel basis [SBP Annual report of 2001-2002: 194]. The following measures were taken in this regard: For the establishment of Islamic banks in the private sector SBP issued detailed criteria for the setting up of a Scheduled Islamic Commercial Bank to conduct business based on the principles of the Shariah. In order to promote Islamic Banking, the existing scheduled commercial banks were allowed to open subsidiaries for Islamic banking operations. With the objective of promoting Islamic banking SBP prepared a detailed guideline for the opening of Stand-alone Islamic Banking branches by existing commercial banks. Furthermore, SBP has taken a number of initiatives since this judgment: A detailed set of criteria for the establishment of Islamic commercial banks in the private sector was issued in December 2001. A new, fully dedicated Islamic bank, Meezan Bank Limited, has been issued a license and the bank has started its business. In order to allow existing banks to set up subsidiaries for Islamic banking, draft amendments in Section 23 of the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962 have been submitted to the government for approval. A new Islamic Banking Division has been established in the Banking Policy Department for the regulation and promotion of Islamic banking. Existing Prudential Regulations have been reviewed by SBP for their application to Islamic banks, and revised regulations are being prepared. The Export Finance Scheme of SBP is being revised to conform to a musharakahformat. Courses on Islamic economics, banking and finance have been included in the curricula of the Institute of Bankers in Pakistan. The International Islamic University, Islamabad, has conducted a teacher training course on the Islamic Financial System in April 2002. SBPs staff along with the staff of other banks attended the course. SBP has reviewed its forms of bank financial statements in the light of newly developed accounting standards. A Shariah Board comprising two Shariahscholars and three experts in the fields and professions of banking, accounting and financial law has been established in the State Bank of Pakistan to advise on modes, procedures, laws and regulations for Shariahcompliant Islamic banking. 3.3 The Present Picture of Islamic Banking in Pakistan There are 6 full-fledged Islamic and 13 conventional banks conducting Islamic banking in Pakistan at present. The names of the six Islamic banks are: Meezan Islamic Bank, Al-Baraka Limited and First Dawood Islamic Bank. According to the quarterly report of the State Bank of Pakistan, the total assets of these Islamic banks now stands at PRS 136 billion, the assets growth rate of Islamic banks is estimated at 10.5% over the period. The assets share of Islamic banking in the overall banking system is estimated to be 3.2% at present. The total of number of Islamic banking branches at Islamic banks and conventional banks is 173. These 173 Islamic banking branches count for less than 1.5% of more than 8500 banking branches of the country. The number of branches and the number of banks offering Islamic banking are tabulated as followings. Table 1: Islamic Banks and Islamic Banking Branches in Pakistan According to the state bank of Pakistans quarterly report of July 2007, total assets of these banking branches now stands for more than 136 billion Pak-Rupees. The assets growth rate of these banks is estimated more than 10% over the period. The assets share of Islamic banking in overall banking industry is more than 3.2%. These figures indicate that each Islamic banking branch posses more than double worth of assets as compared to conventional banking branch. Name of Bank Category No. of Branches Al-Baraka Islamic Bank Islamic bank 11 Bank Islami Pakistan Limited ,, 13 Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan ,, 15 Emirates Global Islamic Bank ,, 6 First Dawood Islamic Bank ,, 1 Meezan Islamic Bank ,, 69 Subtotal: 6 A 115 Askari Commercial Bank conventional bank 6 ABN AMRO Bank Limited ,, 1 Bank Al-Habib ,, 3 Bank Al-Falah ,, 23 Bank of Khyber ,, 5 Habib Bank Metropolitan ,, 4 Habib Bank Limited ,, 1 MCB Bank Limited ,, 6 National Bank of Pakistan ,, 1 Prime Commercial Bank Limited ,, 2 Soneri Bank Limited ,, 2 Standard Chartered Bank ,, 3 United Bank Limited ,, 1 Subtotal: 13 B 58 Total: 19 A+B 173 Source: State Bank of Pakistan Quarterly Report July.2007 Table 2: Progress of Islamic Banks and their Market Share in Pakistan Description March-07 Dec-06 Dec-05 Dec-04 Dec-03 Total Assets 136 118 72 44 13 % of Banking Industry 3.2 2.9 2.1 1.4 0.5 Deposits 93 83 50 30 8 % of Banking Industry 3.0 2.8 1.9 1.2 0.4 Finance Investment 78 72 48 30 10 % of Banking Industry 2.5 2.4 1.8 1.3 0.5 Source: State Bank of Pakistan Quarterly Report July. 2007 3.4 Factors Supporting the Development of Islamic Banking in Pakistan (a) Decentralization of Administrative Power The responsibility for the adaptation of the market economy, the decentralization or privatization of loss making state-owned financial enterprises and the task of establishing Islamic banks was transferred to the State Bank of Pakistan. The State Bank of Pakistan took the initiative to launch Islamic banking in gradual phases. The emphasis was to promote and establish new full-fledged Islamic Banks rather than continue the transformation of existing conventional banks towards Islamization. Since the year 2000, the State Bank of Pakistan has followed various strategies to promote Islamic Banking such as; (a) the setting up of the criteria for establishing independent Islamic branches or subsidiary branches of Islamic banking; (b) The formation of the Islamic Banking Division at the State Bank of Pakistan and; (c) The establishment of a Shariah Scholar Board at the State Bank of Pakistan. All these above measures have imparted a positive impact on the effective working of Islamic Bank ing. (b) Commendable Developments in the Economy after the Year 2000 Despite a series of domestic and external shocks of an unprecedented nature, the economy of Pakistan has made commendable progress since the year 2000. It is a well-established fact that the decade of the 1990s was a lost decade for Pakistan. While many developing countries made substantial economic progress Pakistan lurched from one economic crisis to another mainly of its own making [Ashfaq 2004]. Commercial banks and other financial institutions became the instruments of political patronage and profit for certain sub-sections of society. The average economic growth was between 3-4% per annum. During the years 2000-2005 the average economic growth increased to 7-8% per annum. The depth and efficiency of financial intermediation in Pakistan has improved. The bank assets to GDP ratio rose from 49.1% in 1997 to 55.6% in 2005 and the deposit to GDP ratio an indicator of the level of financial savings- rose from 38.7% in 1997 to 43.1% in 2005. More significantly, equity market capitali zation grew from a mere 10.3% of GDP in 2000 to 37.1% of GDP in 2006. (c) Participation and Sharing of Islamic or Religious Parties in Political Power When Pakistan became an independent nation, the Ulema(Religious leaders or Muslim Scholars) did not wait long to demand their share of power in running the new state. Jamat-i-Islami made the achievement of an Islamic Constitution its central goal. In February 1948, Maulana Maududi, while addressing the Lahore Law College, demanded that the Constitutional Assembly should unequivocally declare: That the sovereignty of the State of Pakistan is vested in Allah and the government of Pakistan shall be only an agent to execute the Sovereigns Will. That the Islamic Shariahshall form the inviolable basic code for all legislation in Pakistan. That all existing or future legislation which may contravene, whether in letter or in spirit, the Islamic Shariahshall be null and void and be considered ultra vires(beyond the legal capacity) of the constitution. That the powers of the government of Pakistan shall be derived from, circumscribed by and exercised within the limits of the Islamic Shariahalone. On January 13th, 1948, Jamiat-al-Ulema-i-Islam, led by Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, passed a resolution in Karachi demanding that the government appoint a leading alim(Islamic scholar) to the office of Shaikh al-Islam, with appropriate ministerial and executive powers over the qadis (Islamic judges) throughout the country. On February 9th, 1948, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, addressing the Ulema-i-Islam conference in Dacca, demanded that the Constituent Assembly Should set up a committee consisting of eminent Ulema(Islamic scholars.) and thinkers to prepare a draft for an Islamic state and present it to the Assembly. The declaration of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic in 1953 was also the result of the struggle of these Islamic parties. All of the above and other Islamic parties also take-part in politics actively, and their share of power is increasing gradually. The struggles of these parties to establish an Islamic state is beginning to bear fruit now. The Islamization Program o f Zia-ul-Haq, Islamization amendments in Pakistans constitution, and the Islamization of the economy is the result of the efforts of these Islamic or religious parties. (d) The Prudential Performance of Islamic Banks and the Risk Taking Attitude of Investors When compared to conventional banks the performance of Islamic banks is more commendable because Islamic banks distribute higher profits. 80.9% of respondents said that Islamic banks distribute higher profits when compared to conventional banks in Pakistan [Hassan 2007: 210-17]. In same study we found that investors were prepared to take a risk in the case of Islamic banks, with 88.48% of respondents saying that they would continue their financial dealing with Islamic banks, even though the risk with these banks was higher than the conventional banks. 4. Conclusion and Expectations Soon after the independence of Pakistan several efforts and strategic measures were taken to induce and implication the Islamic principles in state affairs, such as: Efforts to introduce Islamic principles into the constitution. At theoretical level, several debates were held focusing on the elimination of ribafrom the economy in these debated some unanimity was achieved. At institutional level, a number of constituent bodies such as the Federal Shariah Court, the Commission for the Islamization of Economy and the Council of Islamic Ideology were formed to formulate the suggestions and recommendations for the elimination of interest from the economy. Some important lessons have emerged from Pakistans experience through the Islamization efforts of the 1980s. First, the policy of transforming the financial and banking sectors in at once or in one-step did not brought the desired results. Most of the measures were later reversed or, at least, further enhancement of the Islamization of the economy was halted. Second, decentralization or privatization of state owned banks and financial institutions was initiated and measures to establish a market economy were adopted. This policy helped the government to get rid of loss generating financial institutions and allowed it to concentrate on the process of Islamizing the economy. Third, an evolutionary (step-by-step) process, rather than a revolutionary (at once or sudden) approach was introduced in order to nurture the acceptability and development of an Islamic financial industry. The State Bank of Pakistan wisely adopted a gradual approach to establishing Islamic banking in Pakistan. Und er this policy, Islamic banking is being promoted in parallel with the conventional finance industry, in an integrated, gradual and steady way. In addition, SBP allows conventional banks to set up Islamic banking subsidiaries or dedicated Islamic banking branches to offer a range of financial services. SBP has put into place a comprehensive and robust multi-tiered Shariah compliance mechanism to increase customers and investors confidence in the Islamic banking industry. The Shariahcompliance mechanism has three main pillars: a Shariah Board at SBP which approves policies and guidelines as well as fitting and proper criteria for its advisors; Shariah advisors in each bank to provide guidance to the bank staff and comfort to its customers on Islamic financial services; and a Shariah Audit System. Although the process of re-launching Islamic banking in Pakistan started just four years ago the assets share of Islamic banks in the overall banking sector of Pakistan is remarkable. Now Islamic banks in Pakistan have more than 3.2% of the total deposits of the countrys entire banking and financial sector. Islamic banks have more than 25000 borrowers now. These figures are noteworthy to show the prudential performance of Islamic banks because the risks involved are relatively different. Investors of Islamic banks face greater risks than investors of conventional banks. The progress of Islamic banks indicates that their popularity is growing and these banks are becoming attractive to investors. Furthermore, these banks have developed several new modes and instruments of finance and investments and now offer 75% of the financial instruments available at conventional banks. The present emphasis of the Shariah Advisory Board and the Islamic banks business development managers is on Shar iahcompliance. Keeping in mind the future of Islamic banks, it is hoped that this emphasis will shift to introducing a variety of financial instruments and modes of investment, and that continued financial development will increase the share of Islamic banks in banking and financial market. Presently, almost all Islamic banks are operating exclusively in the mega cities and big business centers of the country, but they are still noticeably absent from urban and rural areas where many potential customers with an urgent need for Islamic banking are waiting. It is suggested that opening operations in secondary and rural areas will foster the future development of Islamic banking.