Benghazi, 20 October:
A number of employees of the . . .[restrict]Sahara Bank in Benghazi held a demonstration today outside the bank to protest against its use of interest. They demanded that it start using Sharia-compliant banking methods.
None of Libya’s major banks at present are Sharia-compliant. However, the Governor of the Central Bank, Saddek Elkaber, has said that he believes that demand for Sharia-compliant banking is so high that it may become an important part of Libyan banking. Speaking at an Arab banking conference in Kuwait at the end of last month, he said that specific rules governing Islamic banking in Libya would probably be implemented by the end of the year
Banks are looking at the creation of specialised Islamic branches that offer Sharia-complaint financial products.
Earlier this year, the NTC approved a law amending the country’s Libya’s 2005 banking law which set out the basic rules and regulations governing Islamic banks.
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