Abuja, Rabi Thani 12/July 3 (IINA) – The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Shamsuddin Usman, announced here that the Federal Government has approved the granting of two licenses for the establishment of Islamic banking in the country.

Usman said that the introduction of an Islamic monetary policy could affect the existing structures and activities of the conventional commercial banks, adding that “the most important being the prohibition of the payment and receipt of a fixed rate of interest, which is replaced by profit and loss sharing arrangements.”

The CBN deputy chief then explained some of the problems that could face Islamic banks, including the inadequate supply of trained manpower, absence of Islamic accounting and auditing standards, lack of enough analysis of profit and loss schemes, and the difficulties in cash management.

He contended that Islamic banking in a mixed economy like Nigeria faced the problem of forfeiting interests on its deposits in the CBN, while the conventional ones would go on receiving such interest.

HI/OB/IINA