A number of employees at a branch of Sahara Bank in Benghazi have held a demonstration outside the bank to protest against its use of interest. They demanded that the bank start using Sharia-compliant banking methods.
According to the Libya Herald, none of Libya’s major banks are Sharia-compliant, but the Governor of the Central Bank, Saddek Elkaber, has said that he believes demand for Sharia-compliant banking is so high that it may become an important part of Libyan banking.
Speaking at an Arab banking conference in Kuwait at the end of last month, he said that specific rules governing Islamic banking in Libya would probably be implemented by the end of the year.
Earlier this year, the NTC approved a law amending the country’s Libya’s 2005 banking law which set out the basic rules and regulations governing Islamic banks.
Sahara Bank is part of the French-based BNP Paribas group.
(Source: Libya Herald)
