To Check Farm Suicides, India Will Have To Start Interest-Free Banking: Bangladesh Top Banker

To Check Farm Suicides, India Will Have To Start Interest-Free Banking: Bangladesh Top Banker

India will have to start interest-free banking system in order to check the growing number of farm suicides, said a top banker of Bangladesh here on Friday. Md Abdul Awwal Sarker, General Manager, Research Department, Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, also said there are no such farm suicides in his country.

He also said that farmers can be saved by advance buying of their products with proper pricing.

While speaking on “Islamic Banking in Bangladesh” at an event hosted by the Indian Centre for Islamic Finance, Mr. Sarker highlighted the achievements of Islamic Banks in Bangladesh.

Out of 60 banks run by the Bangladesh Bank, counterpart of Reserve Bank of India, there are 8 full-fledged Islamic Banks, but 24% of all bank deposits in the country are with these Islamic Banks, he said.

He also said that Islamic Banks are getting huge share of remittances sent by Bangladeshi workers from abroad. In terms of figure, a big 43% of all remittances come to the country through Islamic Banks, he informed.

Highlighting growth of Islamic Banking system in Bangladesh, Mr Sarker, who is a renowned Islamic Banking scholar, said: “2 out of 8 Islamic Banks were conventional banks but they later converted themselves into full-fledged Islamic Banks. They are Exim Bank and Fast Security Islamic Bank.”

The first Islamic Bank was opened in 1983 and 8 Islamic Banks have together 300 branches today.

He stressed that people from all faiths are getting attracted to Islamic Banks in Bangladesh.

“First man who opened deposit account in an Islamic Bank was a Hindu and the number is growing. Islamic Banks have become role model and that is why people are getting attracted to them. People are choosing it for its human appeal, not just religion. There is strong public demand,” he said.

Further elaborating on why people are opting for Islamic Banking system, Mr Sarker said: “Islamic Banks have stability and resilience. They have shock absorbance capacity. During the global meltdown, our banks remained stable. In contrast, conventional banks do not have this capacity.”

Mr Sarker was in India to attend a workshop of International Monetary Fund (IMF) where he spoke on the topic of Islamic Banking in Bangladesh.

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