Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: To fulfil the government’s commitment to integrating Islamic banking into the economic fabric of the country by eliminating the interest-based system in the country, the government reached an understanding with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBOP) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to repeal their appeals against the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) order.
Finance Division, in a press release, said that to honour the resolution for eradication of interest, passed by Mufti Taqi Usmani at the Hurmat-e-Sood Conference held in Karachi on 30th November 2022, the government has constituted a Steering Committee under the Patronage of Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Implementation of Islamic Banking
The committee is mandated to guide the legal and regulatory reforms and actions required for the implementation of the Federal Shariat Court’s judgment on Riba; to suggest capacity-building measures of the stakeholders for full implementation of the FSC’s decision; to monitor the progress of implementation of the FSC’s judgment; and remove the bottlenecks, if any.
The composition of the Steering Committee is as follows:
Ex-Officio Members
| 1 | Governor, State Bank of Pakistan | Chairman |
| 2 | Secretary, Finance Division | Member |
| 3 | Chairman, Securities Exchange Companies of Pakistan | Member |
| 4 | Chairman, Pakistan Banks Association | Member |
| 5 | Deputy Governor, FI, DFS&IT, State Bank of Pakistan | Member |
Members by Name
| 6 | Maulana Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, President Wifaq-ul-Madaris | Member |
| 7 | Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz, Chairman Shariah Advisory Committee SBP | Member |
| 8 | Mr. Mansur-Ur-Rehman Khan, President & CEO, IBP & Member SAC | Member |
| 9 | Mr. Ashfaq Tola Chairman, Pakistan Reforms and Resource Modernization | Commission Member |
| 10 | Mr. Khozem A. Haidermota, Senior partner, Haidermota & Co | Member |
| 11 | Mr. Saeed Ahmad, Ex-Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan | Member |
| 12 | Mr. Irfan Siddiqi, President Meezan Bank | Member |
| 13 | Mian Muhammad Adrees, CEO, Sitara Chemical Industries | Member |
Executive Director, Islamic Banking Department, SBP will act as Secretary of the Steering Committee.
