Insurance companies, both general and life, have been permitted to launch ‘Takaful’, the Islamic alternative to conventional insurance products, Muhammad Asif Arif, Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) who looks after the Insurance Division, announced on Wednesday.
An executive at an insurance company commented that the matter had remained stalled since 2007. He thought that the lifting of bar on conventional insurance companies also to write policies under the Shariah-compliant Takaful would broaden the base of insurance companies.
He asserted that the public concern on the insurance being compatible with Shariah was the major hurdle in the growth of insurance sector.