The Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit has conducted a survey to know the customers’ needs in the current period and it reveals that 43% of customers (about 2 million customers) do not prefer to deal with the bank because it imposes interest rates on loans which is prohibited is Islam as they claim, said Mohsen El-Batran, chairman of the bank.
On the sidelines of the first conference organized by the Egyptian Islamic Finance Association under the title of the development prospects of Islamic finance in Egypt, El-Batran added that the people surveyed affirmed that they will deal with the bank if it offers sharia-compliant products.
The bank has studied different experiences of Islamic banks and will implement an Islamic banking system that is suitable to the bank in the upcoming period, El-Batran noted.
There are about 5.8 million farmers who own agricultural lands; of which one million farmers only ask for loans. Expanding in offering Islamic banking services will attract a large segment of farmers in the upcoming period, El-Batran expected.
