The World Bank is completing preparation for the roll out of a microlending program for Muslim Filipinos consistent with the tenets of Islam, according to the Bureau of Muslim Economic Affairs (BMEA).
This was learned on Thursday from Aleem Siddiqui Matabalao Guiapal, Director IV at the BMEA, who works under the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF).
Guiapal said the microlending program is Shariah-compliant and does not conflict with Islamic values, even as it aims to ensure universal access to financial services for Muslims in Mindanao.
According to him, the World Bank should soon pilot test the Shariah–compliant microfinance service in Mindanao in line with the development of Islamic financing in the country.
“World Bank and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process will be introducing a Shariah-compliant microfinancing [program] next year.
The World Bank recently conducted consultations in Cotabato and Manila,” he told the BusinessMirror.
He said the program will open opportunities for about 10 million to 15 million Muslims in the country.
Dr. Zamir Iqbal, lead financial sector specialist of the World Bank’s Global Islamic Finance Development Center, said the Shariah-compliant financing should help enhance investments in underserved segments, such as households, small and medium enterprise (SMEs) and agriculture in Mindanao.
Guiapal said the passage of a bill strengthening Islamic banking in the Philippines should also open vast investment opportunities in the country.
He sees the 253 million Muslim population in the Asean region with purchasing power of $93 billion as a potential market.
He added that the program was seen to encourage investments from within the Asean and the Middle East countries.
Up to four international banks, including Malaysia’s Maybank, and such local banks as BDO Unibank Inc. and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. have shown interest in opening an Islamic banking unit in the area once the regulatory framework on Islamic banking is in place.
House Bill 5989, or An Act amending Republic Act 6848, also known as the charter of the Al Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines, provides for the regulation and organization of an expanded Islamic-banking system in the Philippines.
The Anak Mindanao or AMIN partylist filed the bill that continues to pend at the House committee level.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the five-year Philippine Development Plan includes a roadmap on Islamic finance development plans in accordance with the national strategy on inclusive growth.
An Islamic Finance Task force had been created composed of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), NCMF, AMIN Partylist and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao Office of the Governor.