Proceedings of 3rd Asia-Pacific Business Research Conference 25 - 26 February 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ISBN: 978-1-922069-19-1

Prospects of Islamic Banking in Bangladesh
Md. Maruf Ullah and Md. Shahnur Azad Chowdhury
In a developing country like Bangladesh, the Islamic banking system as a whole has a vital role play in the process of economic development. The study has been concentrated on “Prospect of Islamic Banking in Bangladesh”. The paper mainly emphasizes on analyzing the performance of Islamic banks and it has also identified some problems & opportunities and provided some suggestions. It has been tried to provide some information about future performance. The study also noted that there is a high demand for interest-free banking services from a segment of people in Bangladesh who have a strong desire to abide by the rules and principals set by Shariah. Along with religious requirement, economic exigencies provide a new outlook to the role of banking in promoting investment productive activities, influencing distribution of income and adding stability to the economy. Moreover, conventional banks offering Islamic banking as a parallel service are to add to their profitability, by attracting people who value the Shariah based system by enjoying the advantages of the special treatments from the Central bank. According to the survey, suitable and supportive legal framework would facilitate better growth of this sector. For a continued expansion of the Islamic Banking system, however, a number of issues that pose serious problems for Islamic banks will need to be carefully addressed. This paper discusses and makes recommendations on the more pertinent of these issues, viz., the development of an Inter-Bank Islamic Money Market, activation of Shariah Supervisory Boards, enactment of a full-fledged Islamic Banking Act, development of New Financial Products