KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan seeks guidance from the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the Federal Shariat Court’s April 28, 2022 judgement on the riba case in terms of its implementation and practicalities involved.

“After a detailed review of the judgment and based upon the advice of SBP’s chief legal adviser and external counsel, being the prime custodian and regulator of the financial and monetary framework of the country, the SBP has sought guidance from the apex court,” said a statement here on Saturday.

It said the SBP honoured the FSC judgement and appreciated the substantive part of the decision in particular.

“The SBP was deeply committed to ensuring compliance with the injunctions of Islam, in particular those pertaining to riba, while protecting the stability and security of the financial sector of the country that functions as part of the global financial system.”

In this context, it said the bank had always remained at the “forefront” in promoting Islamic banking in the country. “SBP was among the few regulators across the globe where comprehensive legal, regulatory and Shariah Governance frameworks had been successfully developed and implemented.”

As many as 22 Islamic banking Institutions (five full-fledged Islamic banks and 17 conventional banks having standalone Islamic banking branches) with a branch network of 3,983 branches along with 1,418 Islamic banking windows (Islamic banking counters at conventional branches) are operational across the country.

The industry accounts for 19.4% of the country is overall banking system in terms of assets while in terms of deposits the share is 20% (as of March 31, 2022).

In addition, the SBP has also been taking measures to bring the legal and regulatory infrastructure in compliance with Shariah principles.