The Department
of Finance (DOF) and the Bangsamoro government have agreed to set up an Islamic
Bank to provide financial access to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
within the new autonomous region.
The
establishment of an Islamic Bank is part of the government’s initiatives to
encourage investments and expand financial services to in the region.
An Islamic bank
is a business entity whose objectives and operations do not involve the usual
bank interest which is prohibited by the Shari’ah and which conducts its
business transactions in accordance to Shari’ah principles.
A bill seeking
to create an Islamic bank in war-torn Mindanao has been approved by the Senate
and the House of Representatives and is now awaiting the signature of President
Duterte.
The finance
department has begun the process of forming a technical working group (TWG)
with other national government agencies to assist officials of the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in initially running their
economic departments and crafting sound policies to ensure the region’s
long-term fiscal stability.
Finance
Undersecretaries Gil Beltran and Bayani Agabin held their first meeting with
minister Eduard Guerra of the Bangsamoro Ministry of Finance, Budget and
Management to firm up the details on the TWG.
The body would
also include representatives from the Department of Budget and Management,
Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Local Government
Finance and the Commission on Audit.
Agabin said the
DOF would draw up its table of organization and list down the functions of its
offices to help the Bangsamoro government adopt the structure suitable for its
system of government.
“They agreed
that the DOF will give a briefing on the structure (of the finance and budget
department) so that they can properly set up their own structure. We’ll help them interface with the other
departments as well,” Agabin said.
Beltran said
the agency would also design more briefings on BARMM’s areas of interest in
connection with fiscal management, budget management and financial planning.
The DOF
co-chairs with the BARMM minister of budget, finance and management the
Intergovernmental Fiscal Policy Board (IGBF), which is designed to address
revenue imbalances and fluctuations in the regional financial needs and
revenue-raising capacity of the BARMM government.
Finance
Secretary Carlos Dominguez made a commitment to Guerra to assist BARMM in
setting up its new government, especially in handling its fiscal affairs.
Besides forming
a TWG, Dominguez also directed Beltran to tap the Philippine Tax Academy (PTA)
to help educate the new set of government officials of the BARMM on fiscal
management, financial planning and budget-related matters.