scholarly journals THE PANDEMIC AND THE ECONOMIC CONUNDRUM: HOW ISLAMIC FINANCE CAN HELP

Author(s):  
OBIYATHULLA ISMATH BACHA

This paper examines the economic and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the responses that governments undertook. Though large and unprecedented in size, policy response has mostly been the same. Huge monetary stimulus, rate cuts, direct market intervention like bond purchases and debt moratoriums. Many of these were techniques used in the previous global financial of 2007–2009. Economies were already fragile and in a vulnerable state when the pandemic struck in late 2019. Continued use of the same policies did prevent a potential meltdown but has increased system vulnerability. The global debt burden is now much larger but governments may have fully expended all their monetary ammunition. Fiscal stimulus though much needed and more appropriate is seriously constrained by budget deficits and lack of fiscal space. Adding more debt to fund fiscal expansion is not really an option. Yet, the pandemic has made vulnerable, several parts of the economy that need to be salvaged. The SME sector which forms the spine of most developing economies is verging on collapse due to cash flow disruptions arising from lockdowns. The domestic banking sector which had funded these SMEs is exposed to a potential meltdown unless restructuring is done. The loan moratoriums widely adapted do not solve but merely postpone the problem. Governments, given their precarious fiscal position are in no position to provide the huge financial infusion needed to shore up the SMEs and banks. Islamic finance, which has risk-sharing alternatives can provide a way out of this conundrum. The paper proposes a shariah compliant risk sharing alternative to resolve this problem.

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-180
Author(s):  
Arif Widodo

It is widely believed that Islamic finance is inherently stable since the principle of risk-sharing and linking the financial to real counterpart in particular through its social finance are applied, hence the financial stability may successfully be attained. If mimicking the conventional finance, Islamic model will probably be facing instability, following the financial cycle. There has been a growing literature discussing credit cycle in mainstream perspective since 2008 global financial crash. However, it is quite rare to find study, in macro context, on credit cycles and the effectiveness of integrated Islamic commercial and social finance in achieving macroprudential objective: curtailing excessive credit. This study is designed to empirically examine the characteristics of cycles stemming from conventional and Islamic credit whether both have similar trend and also to investigate how the integrated Islamic commercial and social finance may be effective to hamper such cycles. By employing Hodrick-Presscot Filter, Markov Switching and Vector Error Correction Model, this study demonstrates that, in terms of cycle, Islamic model cycle has certain similarities with conventional counterpart since it functions under similar financial environment despite the fact that Islamic has less amplitude compared with conventional credit. Both credit and financing cycles tend to grow rapidly (excessive) several months before global financial crisis happened in 2008. This means that, in a dual banking system, credit and financing boom may precede financial crisis. Moreover, it is apparent also that the integrated Islamic finance is proven to be effective in curbing credit growth due to the effectiveness of both macroprudential instrument applied in banking sector and social finance in safeguarding financial stability. Keywords:  Credit cycle, Macroprudential policy, Markov Switching, HP filter JEL Classification: E32, E51, G29


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Kofi Adom ◽  
Franklin Amuakwa-Mensah ◽  
Salome Amuakwa-Mensah

Abstract The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 emphasizes the need for economies around the world to double their efforts in energy efficiency improvements. This is because improvements in energy efficiency can trigger economic growth and considered as one of the ‘green’ growth strategies due to its carbon free content. To this end, some empirical studies have investigated the nexus between economic growth and energy efficiency, but the effects of the latter on financial indicators have not been sufficiently studied in the literature, at least in developing economies like Africa. This study examines the effect of energy efficiency improvements on commercial bank profitability under different political regimes (i.e., autocratic and democratic political regimes); something previous literature had neglected. The study uses panel data, consisting of 43 African countries and the simultaneous System Generalized Method of Moments. We found that energy efficiency improvement is more likely to induce higher bank profitability in political institutions with the characteristics of centralization of power compared with those with decentralization of power. Furthermore, for the banking sector, the findings suggest that energy utilization behavior of clients should be included in the loan or credit valuation process. For the government, the agenda of energy efficiency should be aggressively pursued while taking cognizance of creating a political environment that weans itself from a ‘grandfathering’ behavior.


2010 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. F13-F18 ◽  

Government fiscal positions in all the advanced economies suffered severe deteriorations during the financial crisis. Figure 1 illustrates the cumulative deterioration of the government budget ratio as a per cent of GDP between 2007 and 2009 in a selection of OECD economies. The sharpest declines materialised in Ireland, Spain and Finland, while public finances in Austria, Germany and Italy have held up better. Budget deficits have worsened in part because of the cyclical downturn, in part because of the policy response to the crisis, including both fiscal stimulus packages and certain fiscal costs related to government support of financial institutions, and in part because of a change in the relationship between revenue and production, which may prove longer-term.


2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Leibrecht ◽  
Johann Scharler

Abstract In this article, we explore how characteristics of the domestic financial system influence the international allocation of consumption risk in a sample of OECD countries. Our results show that the extent of risk sharing achieved does not depend on the overall development of the domestic financial system per se. Rather, it depends on how the financial system is organized. Countries characterized by developed financial markets are less exposed to idiosyncratic risk, whereas the development of the banking sector contributes little to the international diversification of consumption risk.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ousmane Diallo ◽  
Tettet Fitrijanti ◽  
Nanny Dewi Tanzil

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of credit, liquidity and operational risks in six Indonesian’s islamic banking financing products namely mudharabah, musyarakah, murabahah, istishna, ijarah and qardh, in order to try to discover whether or not Indonesian islamic banking is based on the “risk-sharing” system. This paper relies on a fixed effect model test based on the panel data analysis method, focusing on the period from 2007 to 2013. The research is an exploratory and descriptive study of all the Indonesian islamic banks that were operating in 2013. The results of this study show that the Islamic banking system in Indonesia truly has banking products based on “risk-sharing.” We found out that credit, operational and liquidity risks as a whole, have significant influence on mudarabah, musyarakah, murabahah, istishna, ijarah and qardh based financing. There is a correlation between the credit risk and mudarabah based financing, and no causal relationship between the credit risk and musharaka, murabahah, ijarah, istishna and qardh based financing. There is also correlation between the operational risk and mudarabah and murabahah based financing, and no causal relationship between the operational risk and musharaka, istishna, ijarah and qardh based financing. There is correlation between the liquidity risk and istishna based financing, and no causal relationship between the liquidity risk and musharaka, mudarabah, murabahah, ijarah and qardh based financing. A major implication of this study is the fact that there is no causal relationship between the credit risk and musharakah based financing, which is the mode of financing where the islamic bank shares the risk with its clients, but there is an influence of credit risk toward mudarabah mode financing, a financing mode where the Islamic bank bears all the risk. These findings can lead us to conclude that the Indonesian Islamic banking sector is based on the “risk sharing” system.


Author(s):  
Wee Chian Koh ◽  
Shu Yu

Emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) weathered the 2009 global recession relatively well. However, the impact of the global recession varied across economies. EMDEs with stronger pre-crisis fundamentals — such as large foreign exchange reserves, sound fiscal positions, and low inflation — suffered milder growth slowdowns, in part due to their greater capacity to engage in monetary and fiscal stimulus. Low-income countries were also resilient, as foreign aid and inflows of remittances remained relatively stable. In contrast, EMDEs that were heavily dependent on short-term capital flows — such as portfolio investment and cross-border bank lending — fared less well, especially those in Europe and Central Asia. A key lesson for EMDEs is the need to strengthen macroeconomic frameworks and create policy space to prepare for future global downturns.


Author(s):  
G. Varaprasad ◽  
R. Sridharan ◽  
Anandakuttan B. Unnithan

The competition in the banking sector has increased dramatically from the past decade. This increased competition environment in the financial service sector has resulted in the development and utilization of alternative delivery channels. The advancements and revolutions in the communication and information technology have changed the functional scenario of the banking sector significantly. Internet banking is a novel delivery channel of banking and has been found to be an optional channel for the traditional banking because of the savings in time, money and effort. Banks have become more and more competitive to meet the customers demand for ease of use, functionality, relative advantage, greater accessibility and the best of the services at a lower price. The objective of this study is to investigate the factors which influence the adoption of Internet banking adoption in private sector banks of India. Factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, relative advantage and trialability have been found to be the determinants of Internet banking in the previous studies. A new variable called conspicuousness has been introduced in the present study. Such a study has not been reported in the literature in the Indian context. A model has been proposed and tested using various statistical techniques. The findings are of great use primarily for the banks which are planning to offer Internet banking services, and for already existing banks to focus on the gaps. This research article provides valuable insights into the underlying contextual factors of Internet banking behavior for researchers and practitioners. The outcome of the study can be used to formulate new marketing strategies to increase the customer base of Internet banking market.


Author(s):  
Adel Sarea ◽  
Mustafa Raza Rabbani ◽  
Md. Shabbir Alam ◽  
Mohammad Atif

Author(s):  
S. M. Sohrab Uddin ◽  
Mohammad Zoynul Abedin ◽  
Nahid Afroz

Financial Inclusion (FI), a global concern of this decade, has been accepted by development agencies, governments, and policymakers as one of the pre-eminent ways to eradicate worldwide poverty and income inequality. Consequently, authorities are looking for possible ways to include the unbanked in formal financial chain. Islamic finance, specifically Islamic banking, with its welfare-oriented principles and unique products, has been able to capture the attention of policy makers. Moreover, a major portion of the Muslim population still exclude themselves from the formal financial chain due to religious prohibition of interest-based transactions for whom Islamic finance is the only way to inclusion. Bangladesh, one of the major Muslim countries in the world, is still to bring one-fourth of its total population under formal financial chain. At this backdrop, this chapter examines the empirical contribution of Islamic banking sector in financial inclusion condition as well as development scenario of Bangladesh.


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