Hideur: “Islamic Banking Will Absorb “Suspicious” Funds And Weed Out Informal Market”

“The Islamic finance industry is welcome in Algeria, and all banking institutions operating in the Algerian market, including public banks, are ready to provide services of an Islamic nature,” said Mr Nasser Hideur, General Manager of “Al Salam Bank Algeria”.

 “The manifold advantages of Islamic banking will contribute to absorbing some of the financial transactions carried out outside the banking market, both in terms of monetary mass, which is still being traded in the informal market or in terms of economic activities that provide added value to the economy by giving a fresh impetus to the labor world in the country.

Mr Hideur explained that financial transactions can be a tool of public savings, such as the issuance of sovereign bonds in accordance with the rules of Sharia or Islamic law.

He further pointed out that the financial transactions are supervised by the Audit and Accounting Organization of the Islamic Foundation, which has a Shari’ah board based in Bahrain. 

It includes all financial institutions and some central banks that deal in accordance with the rules of Islamic Shari’a, and has established 58 legal standards for all transactions and tools used by the Islamic financial industry, and each institution has a monitoring and audit, in case there is a transaction that requires the institution so as to avert the usury profits, he asserted. 

Mr Nasser Hideur also stated that the relevant specialists estimate the size of the assets of Islamic financial industry belonging to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2018, to reach about $ 2000 billion dollars, as the latter is a very active industry adding that the institutions that comply the rules of Islamic law in the world, account for nearly 700 institutions which registered a growth rate of approximately 15% per annum.

“Islamic banks are present even in the Western world. There are five banks in Britain, in Luxembourg, in Germany, in China in Hong Kong and in Russia. There is a great deal of people’s interest in this banking industry worldwide owing to its myriad positive aspects”, he argued.

Furthermore, the Director General of “Al Salam Bank Algeria” revealed that a proposal had been submitted through the Association of Banks in Algeria to introduce minor amendments to the country’s Banking Law so as to give a legal and legislative basis for the transactions which currently fall under a general banking law that does not take into account certain specificities, adding that this will answer many legitimate questions asked by citizens on the matter.