Akhtar Raza, Chief Manager, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Rawalpindi, on Saturday said growth of Islamic banking can be judged from the fact that the total assets of the Islamic banking industry in Pakistan stood at Rs 568 billion and total deposits worth Rs 463 billion.

Sharing latest data on Islamic banking at launching ceremony of the Advanced Diploma in Islamic Finance by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) here, the Chief Manager SBP said that the Islamic banking sector is witnessing enormous growth of 30 percent in Pakistan.

At present five full-fledged Islamic banks are operating in the country with purely Islamic banking products apart from conventional banking.

About the coverage of Islamic banking in Pakistan, the chief guest said that there are 841 bank branches in 70 districts across the country.

Talking about latest initiatives of the SBP for promoting Islamic banking in Pakistan, Akhtar Raza stated that the SBP worked on a three- pronged strategy for promotion of Islamic Banking.

The strategy allows new full-fledged Islamic banks in the private sector and also permitting the conventional banks to set up Islamic banking subsidiaries.

Under the plan, the SBP has allowed the existing conventional banks to open Stand-alone Islamic banking branches.

Chief Manager SBP further stated that the SBP has issued guidelines for conventional banks having dedicated Islamic Banking Branches for Segregation of Funds and System & Control.

The central bank has also issued guidelines for Islamic Microfinance Business.

The SBP is actively working for the development of Enforcement Framework for Shariah Compliance in Islamic Banking Institutions and rolling out IFSB standards/guidelines.

The SBP has also issued guidelines for Islamic Financing for agriculture.

It has issued Instructions and Guidelines for Shariah Compliance in Islamic Banking institutions and Introduced Shariah Compliance Inspection of IBI's, Akhtar Raza added.

Raza, Chief Manager SBP, the Chief Guest at the launch of the CIMA Islamic Finance course highly appreciated the efforts of enhancing specialised knowledge in Pakistan.

Addressing the gathering, senior representatives from CIMA informed that the CIMA Advanced Diploma in Islamic Finance (CADIF) is the first qualification of its kind to be offered by a professional accountancy body, and marks a major step forward for the Islamic finance industry.

It follows the successful launch of CIMA's Certificate in Islamic Finance four years ago, which, following a detailed review, has recently been re-graded to the CIMA Diploma in Islamic Finance.

Bradley Emerson, Regional Director, CIMA also acknowledged that Islamic banking is growing in non-Muslim countries.

He said that the CIMA's mission is to help people and businesses to succeed.

Keeping this mission CIMA recognise the growth of Islamic Finance in the world; came up with the curriculum with input from world's best scholars on the subjects.

CIMA Certificates, Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses in Islamic Finance are the first ever globally recognised qualifications.

CIMA is confident that the launch of this program in Pakistan is timely and the banking professionals may make use of these courses.

Javaria Hassan, Country Manager, CIMA Pakistan added that the Islamic finance plays a vital role in the modern business world.

Ishrat Rauf, the guest speaker at the event addressed the audience on the potential that the South Asian region offers.