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Acting Governor of Aceh, Dr. H. Safrizal ZA, M.Si, while giving a speech at the Annual Meeting of Sharia Banking 2024.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDA ACEH — The sharia economy always seems to be running on the spot. Its development is considered so minimal that it is rarely seen. In fact, although it seems to be going slowly, the sharia economy continues to expand at an increasing pace over time.
Acting Governor of Aceh, Safrizal ZA, during the Annual Meeting of Sharia Banking 2024 at Hermes Palace Hotel, Banda Aceh, on Friday (25/10/2024) today, acknowledged that he received a lot of criticism. That the development of the sharia economy would slow the growth rate of its region.
Aceh is the only region to implement Islamic sharia as the cornerstone of regional autonomy rules, including the economic sphere. Safrizal insists the perception that the implementation of the sharia economic system in Aceh is hindering economic growth is deeply wrong.
“Sharia economics encourages and encourages the lower economic sectors to keep moving,” he said.
Recent data show that Aceh’s economic growth currently stands at 4.54 percent, with the largest contribution from agriculture, plantations, and forestry sectors. So he thinks it is the responsibility of sharia banking to make a stronger contribution in these sectors.
Financial Services is also the most developed industrial sector in Aceh. This made the development of sharia banking play an important role in Aceh’s economic growth.
Chief Executive Officer of OJK Banking Supervisor Dian Ediana Rae also said that the growth of the national sharia economy is actually growing quite rapidly. The financial performance of sharia banking has always grown by double digits, and above conventional financial growth.
“Marketshare is currently 7.33 per cent, sharia banking assets are growing 10.37 per cent (yoy), financing 11.63 per cent (yoy), and DPK is growing 11.42 per cent (yoy),” he said on the same occasion.
Dian said that all the infrastructure of sharia banking continues to be adjusted and equipped. Especially for products that have specificity, it exists only in Sharia financial services. One of them is by launching new products, such as Sharia Restricted Intermediaries Account (SRIA).
He believes the product could increase the scale of national sharia banking. Considering such products can adjust the risk appetite of the customer or debtor. During this time, sharia banking was less industrially viewed because its commercial products were still very limited, and could not accommodate large projects.