Abstract
This study highlights the obstacles which limitthe penetration of the banking sector in the field of Islamic microfinancein Pakistan,keeping in viewthe practitioners’perspective as to how these obstaclescan be overcome.In Pakistan, where approximately sixty percent (60%)of the population is living below the international poverty line, Islamic microfinancehas the potential to play a vital role inalleviatingpoverty.Unfortunately,the banking sectorof Pakistanis reluctantto contribute in Islamic microfinancedue tosome limitations from the bankers’ perspective.Qualitative approach has been followed in this study in whichsemi-structuredinterviews wereconducted with twenty-sixparticipants from all over Pakistan,including fivefrom Islamic,seven from conventional, thirteen from microfinance andonefrom an Islamicmicrofinancebank. Interviews were conducted with theboard of directors, Sharīʿahboard members, senior management,and microfinanceheads.According to the experts, the mindset of bankers, lack of collateral, weak role of the State Bankof Pakistan(SBP)and the government of Pakistan insetting targets, limited availability ofsector targeted products, lack of customer awareness, lack of initialcapital, time consumption and documentation problems are among the issuesfaced by the banking sector.Theseexperts emphasized the crucial role of the SBPand government support to promote Islamic microfinancing through banks.State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as regulator and other commercial banks,
Mohammad Ayaz, Hassan Shakeel Shah, Amat ul Mateen Noor, Sadaf Shaheen. (2019) IslamicMicrofinancing by the Banking Sectorof Pakistan:Problems andSolutions, Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, Volume IX, Issue 2 .
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