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Name: |
Saleem Ullah
Director State Bank of Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan Pakistani |
Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today? After a successful career of about five years as head of microfinance, I was promoted as head of strategic management, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in 2005. In 2006, I pursued a masters degree in public policy at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, US. Upon my return from Harvard in June 2007, I was appointed as director, development finance in SBP banking services corporation (SBP-BSC), I was then assigned the Islamic banking portfolio in February 2010 after my predecessor left SBP. What does your role involve? The development of Shariah compliant liquidity management solutions is another important area of my interest. A keen interest and involvement of stakeholders in the area gives me optimism about early development of such solutions. Besides the prudential and Shariah framework, we are also actively engaged in promotion of Islamic finance as a viable and competitive solution for meeting the economy’s financing needs. The field network of SBP-BSC is also being leveraged to reach to the stakeholders for creating awareness and fueling the demand for Islamic finance. What is your greatest achievement to date? Though my association with Islamic finance is very recent, I have given a slogan for Islamic finance ‘Lets Grow Together’ which highlights the basic philosophy of Islamic finance such as equity, justice, and mutual growth of IBIs’ shareholders, depositors and entrepreneurs. The slogan is well received by the industry and will be instrumental in bringing more transparency and equity in Islamic finance products and services. What are the factors contributing to the success of your company? The Islamic banking industry in Pakistan is growing on an average of more than 30% annually for the last five years, which among others is also attributable to the supportive SBP policies for the sector and its non-traditional role of market facilitator/developer. The SBP Shariah compliance framework, which not only allows necessary flexibility to IBIs to design Shariah compliant products but also ensure compliance with the Shariah, is also a major strength that gives comfort to the consumers about the Shariah compatibility of Islamic finance products. What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years or so? Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance. Mere structuring and replication of conventional products to make them Shariah compliant may weaken people’s belief in Islamic finance and may thus impede the growth momentum. |