BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- Islamic finance deposits at the Algerian popular credit (CPA) level amount to more than 25 billion dinars, said, Thursday, the head of the Islamic finance department of this public bank, Sofiane Mazari, adding that the number of bank customers in this area exceeds 35,000 customers.
According to the bank’s balance sheet unveiled by Mr. Mazari during the ceremony to launch the interest-free credit for pilgrims, called “Qard hassen hajji”, the same official said that the deposits recovered within the framework of Islamic finance, two years after its launch at the bank level, amounted to more than 25 billion/da with more than 35,000 customers identified in this niche.
In this regard, the director explained that the CPA had obtained “positive results and made great progress in this area,” stressing that the bank offers 15 Islamic finance products at 96 offices across the national territory.
Regarding the official launch of the product “Qard Hassen Hajji” by the CPA within the framework of Islamic finance, Mr. Mazari said that this credit, launched for the second consecutive season, had obtained the certificate of compliance with Sharia of the National Fatwa Committee for the Islamic Finance Industry.
Stating that the value of the credit can reach 300,000 da without interest, Mr. Mazari recalled that this credit was intended for pilgrims “fulfilling the legal and regulatory conditions established by the competent authorities in this field.”
“Qard Hassen Hajji” is intended for resident individuals of Algerian nationality with a stable income and whose age is under 75, he added, before noting that the CPA also allows children or spouses of the pilgrim to subscribe to this credit to finance the pilgrimage of the parent and/or spouse.
Regarding the repayment of the credit, the manager specified that it is done over 24 months, after the first three months of obtaining the credit.
For his part, the president of the Charaic Control Committee of the CPA and member of the High Islamic Council (HIC), Said Bouizri, estimated that “Qard Hassen Hajji” comes “to consecrate the social and religious dimensions, in a context marked by the rise costs of Hajj.”
Dr. Bouizri affirmed that this credit meets the aspirations of citizens, adding that it would “relieve Algerian pilgrims.”