Call to embrace Islamic financial practices to overcome meltdown
From Fazle Rashid | Wednesday, 4 March 2009
NEW YORK, March 3: Leaders from the Muslim world who gathered at Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia for the fifth World Islamic Economic Forum urged the industrialised nations to embrace Islamic financial practices to overcome the global economic meltdown.
Muslim presidents, prime ministers and princes last Monday called upon Islamic banks to undertake work with missionary zeal in the west to promote Sharia banking, a reputed paper said in a report Tuesday.
The leaders attending the inaugural session of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) berated the excesses of the irresponsible, unregulated western financial markets for triggering the crisis and recommended Sharia banking as a pillar for a more stable global financial system. Islamic banking could play a more useful role but it would not be a "silver bullet" for the crisis.
Bankers at the conference said greater standardisation of structure, improved transparency and more innovative products are needed for the industry to develop, the same paper said.
The WIEF chairman ruefully said " our gurus have failed us in theory and practice. We need a new approach"
There are 1550 delegates from 36 Islamic countries attending the conference. The president of the host nation Susilo Yudhoyono addressing the gathering said Islamic banking is in a position to take a leadership role. He felt that the west would now be more open to the concept of the Sharia banking.
Yudhoyono suggested floating of an Islamic World Expenditure Support Fund for assisting least developed Muslim countries. Standard and Poor (S&P), the rating agency said the immediate future of the Islamic financial institutions is uncertain but its long term prospects are bright.
Mukthar Hussain who manages the Sharia banking at the HSBC, (the only western bank where Sharia banking has been adopted) conceded that Sharia banking has immense prospect for playing a crucial role.
Meanwhile, fears that the global economy is even weaker than earlier projected ricocheted around the globe as investors from Hong Kong to London to New York bailed out of stocks, the New York Times (NYT) reported today. Losses were bad everywhere but especially severe in Europe. Down Jones Industrial average fell 4.24 per cent as insurance giant AIG reported a quarterly loss of $61.7 billion. Nasdaq composite ended 3.99 per cent lower. This is a terrible bear market and it is bleeding slowly. We are not sure how long will it (bleeding) last, a market watcher said.
Muslim presidents, prime ministers and princes last Monday called upon Islamic banks to undertake work with missionary zeal in the west to promote Sharia banking, a reputed paper said in a report Tuesday.
The leaders attending the inaugural session of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) berated the excesses of the irresponsible, unregulated western financial markets for triggering the crisis and recommended Sharia banking as a pillar for a more stable global financial system. Islamic banking could play a more useful role but it would not be a "silver bullet" for the crisis.
Bankers at the conference said greater standardisation of structure, improved transparency and more innovative products are needed for the industry to develop, the same paper said.
The WIEF chairman ruefully said " our gurus have failed us in theory and practice. We need a new approach"
There are 1550 delegates from 36 Islamic countries attending the conference. The president of the host nation Susilo Yudhoyono addressing the gathering said Islamic banking is in a position to take a leadership role. He felt that the west would now be more open to the concept of the Sharia banking.
Yudhoyono suggested floating of an Islamic World Expenditure Support Fund for assisting least developed Muslim countries. Standard and Poor (S&P), the rating agency said the immediate future of the Islamic financial institutions is uncertain but its long term prospects are bright.
Mukthar Hussain who manages the Sharia banking at the HSBC, (the only western bank where Sharia banking has been adopted) conceded that Sharia banking has immense prospect for playing a crucial role.
Meanwhile, fears that the global economy is even weaker than earlier projected ricocheted around the globe as investors from Hong Kong to London to New York bailed out of stocks, the New York Times (NYT) reported today. Losses were bad everywhere but especially severe in Europe. Down Jones Industrial average fell 4.24 per cent as insurance giant AIG reported a quarterly loss of $61.7 billion. Nasdaq composite ended 3.99 per cent lower. This is a terrible bear market and it is bleeding slowly. We are not sure how long will it (bleeding) last, a market watcher said.