Banking in Asia

Pakistani banks are undergoing rapid changes. Accordingly, the central bank has been given full supervisory and regulatory jurisdiction over all investment banks and housing-finance companies as part of an effort to boost depositor's confidence. The government aims to privatize and deregulate the economy. Despite Islam's opposition to the payment or charge of interest, the issue is to be decided within the year (1992). At the time of this writing, seven investment banks and two housing-finance companies have become operational. In addition, eleven banking companies in the private sector have been licensed and four have been declared scheduled banks. The transformation of Pakistan's banking system is no easy task.