Islamic Finance and Economic Development

MUNAWAR IQBAL is Chief of Research in Islamic Banking and Finance at the Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, the largest Islamic financial institution in the world. He has served as Economic Adviser to the Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation, Saudi Arabia, the largest Islamic commercial bank in the world. He has also served as Director at the International Institute of Islamic Economics at the Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has taught at the Islamic University and at McMaster and Simon Fraser Universities in Canada and has published and edited many books and papers in the

It highlights the benefits that Islamic banking can bring to society as an alternative model of financial intermediation and presents interesting case studies that examine certain features of Islamic finance and their relationship with growth, economic and financial stability, allocative efficiency and social justice.Over the last thirty years, Islamic banking has emerged as a viable and efficient model of financial intermediation. In conventional economic systems, the interest rate mechanism is at the heart of that process, however the Islamic financial system cannot rely on that mechanism. With this fact considered, this volume explores the role of Islamic finance in promoting growth and development. It highlights the benefits that Islamic banking can bring to society as an alternative model of financial intermediation and presents interesting case studies that examine certain features of Islamic finance and their relationship with growth, economic and financial stability, allocative efficiency and social justice.