The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Bank of Khyber signed a memorandum of understanding regarding "Islamic microfinance banking" on eve of completion of 10-year of 'Raast Islamic Banking'. The bank acting Managing Director Imran Samad and KP Finance Secretary Syed Saeed Badshah Bokhari formally signed the agreement at a ceremony held at a local hotel on Monday.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak participated in the ceremony as chief guest. KP senior Minister for Finance, and Ameer Jamaat-e-Islamic Sirajul Haq, acting Managing Director of the Bank of Khyber Imran Samad, Secretary Finance Syed Saeed Badshah Bokhari, BoK Head of marketing Syed Ali Nawaz Gilani, members of board of directors, industrialists and businessmen were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the KP Chief Minister said the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was going taking a historic and milestone step in Islamic micro financing. He said the government has planned to establish an autonomous micro finance bank within next two year. He said the people voted to power to the PTI to bring change in the province, because they had frustrated by wrong policies of former governments and wanted to end politics of status quo forever.
He said the KP government was launching a scheme for provision of flour and ghee on subsidise rates through which more than 0.5million people would be benefited. Khattak said the provincial government has taken steps for brining reforms in all sectors of the government, particularly economic uplift, curbing deforestation, tapping on oil and mineral resources in a befitting manner.
Similarly, he said the legislation process has expedited and a number of laws have been passed like the Right of Information, Right to Public Service Act and other laws. The process of reforms has been geared up in terrorism-infested Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the provincial government was fully following the change agenda to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability in the province, the KP CM said and added KP was being confronted with poor financial conditions for last so many decades.
Despite the poor financial conditions of KP, Khattak said, the federal government has not given due rights, especially not releasing outstanding dues of net hydel profits and water. He said Rs 134 billion has been outstanding against the Centre on net hydel profits while Rs 118 billion on the water head. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had also ignored in the Public Sector Development Scheme (PSDP) and not giving its due share in mega development schemes.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, KP Senior Finance Minister and JI Ameer Sirajul Haq said the launching of Islamic micro finance was a revolutionary step and the provincial government has getting progress in this regard. He termed the present interest system an exploitation of the people of the country. "Today we are sowing a seed, which will become tall tree," the KP Finance Minister said.
Sirajul Haq said KP was facing financial constraints and other issues, despite that it has allocated Rs 1 billion for Islamic micro finance, which is introducing as experimental basis in the province. In his speech, Imran Samad, the BoK acting Managing Director, said the bank has earned Rs 1 billion profit and stood a progressive bank among other banks and financial indicators during last two years. He said the Bank has completed a decade of its 'Raast Islamic Banking', which is milestone and biggest achievement for the bank. Samad informed that a total 101 BoK branches have been functioning in the country, out of which 44 were providing Islamic banking facility. He said the provincial KP government and BoK have striving for provision of maximum opportunities of jobs in the province and launching of Islamic microfinance a part in this effort.