Ben D. Kritz
It was encouraging to hear the news earlier last week that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) intends to amend its charter to permit the growth of Islamic banking in the Philippines. The initiative is meritorious enough that we should overlook the not-so-subtle political timing of the announcement, and the fact that the Philippines is at least decade behind its regional neighbors in realizing the economic potential of a system that caters to the financial needs of businesses and individuals who adhere to the principles of Shari’ah.