BSP: Two institutions looking to put up Islamic banking ops in PH

At least two institutions are eyeing to set up Islamic banking operations in the country, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.

In a press conference, BSP assistant governor Arifa Ala said there are currently two potential applications for Islamic banking in the country, one of them being Maybank Philippines Inc. which plans to open an Islamic banking window.

“They have not submitted application as of today, but we’ve heard information that they may submit it within this month. We’ve been discussing with them,” she told reporters in Manila City.

The other potential application, Ala said, is a foreign bank which will be on top of CARD Bank Inc., a microfinance institution which already has an Islamic bank in the country.

“There is no specific number. We have not really targeted a specific number, but we would like to have more because for the longest time, we only have one Islamic bank in the name of Al Amanah Islamic Islamic Investment Bank and now we have two, because CARD has Islamic bank here,” she added.

Islamic banking is based on the Shari’ah Principle, with a defined system to ensure that there is effective and independent oversight of compliance with the practical divine law deduced from its legitimate sources — the Qu’ran, Sunnah, consensus of Muslim scholars, analogical deduction, and other approved sources.

The BSP is now looking to promote Islamic banking as a means to boost financial inclusion in the country, with only 8% in the Bangsamoro region having bank accounts, leaving the remaining 92% unbanked.

“What we want to do is create an inclusive banking system, a banking system in the country to complement the banking system we already have,” BSP governor Eli Remolona said.

Moving forward, Remolona said the BSP continues to target to have 70% of the population included in the financial system or have bank accounts. —VAL, GMA Integrated News