Malaysia, Indonesia need to invest more in Islamic finance
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Indonesia need to invest more in Islamic finance to ensure their offerings are on par with conventional offerings, said HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd yesterday.
In a statement here yesterday, its chief executive officer, Arsalaan Ahmed, said the growth of Islamic finance would support the financial inclusion and societal integration benefits the industry could help in.
He said that within Malaysia specifically there were a raft of institutions, public, professional and academic set-ups to support countries develop Islamic finance.
Financial inclusion has become important in prudent policymaking for regulators and it was more broadly important for countries in terms of navigating uncertain times by increasing the number as well as amount of savings within the financial system, he said.
“For Asean countries, particularly sovereigns, the sukuk market cannot be ignored. It is a strategic tool to access capital. Malaysia uses it as a primary tool and Indonesia as a secondary tool. Both recent and regular issuers, both seeing success.
“As the Asean credit story builds and as usage of capital market grows, Sukuk will be a natural part of the funding tool evolution of issuers led by sovereigns and eventually by others,” Arsalaan
As the Asean credit story builds and as usage of capital market grows, Sukuk will be a natural part of the funding tool evolution of issuers led by sovereigns and eventually by others. Arsalaan Ahmed, HSBC Amanah Malaysia chief executive officer
said.
He said the Islamic finance was a vehicle for non-Muslim countries to promote financial inclusion and thus greater integration within a country’s systems and institutions.
“The leading example is the UK for supporting their Muslim minority population; Singapore also has a good framework. Through a period of recovering from a global economic downturn, giving people an
ability to access the financial system and see their prospects change is undoubtedly desirable,” he said.— Bernama