KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Pakistan’s largest public sector commercial bank, has inaugurated the first Islamic Window of NBP ‘Aitemaad’ in the main branch of NBP in Karachi.

The NBP is one of the largest commercial bank in Pakistan with over 1,500 branches, and its Islamic Banking arm that provides Shariah compliant financial services from over 188 branches/windows nationwide. Arif Usmani, CEO & President NBP inaugurated the branch.

While addressing the inaugural ceremony Arif Usmani said the demand for Shariah compliant banking solutions and services has seen a sharp increase.

He was optimistic that with NBP Aitemaad’s new innovative products and solutions such as Islamic Window, will enable NBP to serve our clients and customers with tailor made financial solutions while maintaining our lead as the eminent Islamic Banking player in the industry. “We are proud to be one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the country with more than 180 branches nationwide and expansions plans in the pipeline,” he added.

Commenting on the multifunctional branch opening, Fouad Farrukh SEVP & Group Chief, Aitemaad Islamic Banking, said that NBP has always strived to set benchmark for the banking industry in Pakistan. “We have grown the Islamic Banking branch network exponentially in the last few years and expanded our coverage to over 100 cities this year. With the new Islamic Window operation for NBP Aitemaad, we will extend the outreach of Shariah compliant Islamic Banking products and services to our customers,” he added.

It may be mentioned Islamic Banking is rapidly growing and its share in overall banking industry surged to 19 percent end of the last calendar year (CY21). The assets of Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) grew by 14.2 percent and crossed five-trillion mark to reach Rs 5.577 trillion by end December 2021. Deposits of IBI also demonstrated a growth of 10.2 percent to record level of Rs 4.211 trillion by end December 2021.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022