Impact of Islamic Modes of Finance on Monetary Expansion

This paper focuses on the different perceptions about the likely impact of Islamic banks' operations on money supply. Since investment accounts with the Islamic banks carry some withdrawal facility, new money is created when the funds in these accounts go to entrepreneurs on profit sharing or murabaha basis. The paper argues that as compared to the conventional banks money creation by Islamic banks is more closely associated with the creation of additional wealth in the real sector. The resulting expansion in money supply will be smaller compared to that resulting from conventional banks' lending Out of their time and saving deposits. The Islamic banks should, therefore, be subjected to a reserve ratio smaller than that applied by the central bank to the conventional banks*.