The State Bank of Pakistan is considering granting of Islamic banking licences to two new applicants. According to Qatar leading daily 'The Peninsula' Director Islamic Banking Department of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Pervez Saeed said a "couple of new licences are in the pipeline".
Presently four full-fledged Islamic banks are doing business in the country. According to him, the number of Islamic bank branches including dedicated Islamic branches of commercial banks has reached 100 against 7,000 conventional bank branches.
He said Indonesia started Islamic banking in mid-1990s and the share of Islamic banking in total banking was 1.34 percent while Malaysia began Islamic banking in 1983 and its share in total banking was 11.6 percent. Pakistan re-launched Islamic banking three years ago and its share in total banking crossed 0.1 percent, Saeed said, terming the growth rate "satisfactory".
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