Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Pakistan in comparison with United Kingdom Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection •What is ‘real’ Islamic Banking? Key issues that must be addressed •The problems of copying the interest based system and its products •How Islamic financing and an Islamic banking system are the only real hope for developing Muslim Countries •Why developing Islamic based state financing is the key issue •An Islamic system for Pakistan Five key issues Why interest and pseudo ‘financial charges’ don’t work •Dictated by policy as much as economic returns •Is too closely tied to the printing of money and not creation of value •Creates disinterest amongst lenders •Creates a ‘hedging strategy’ for portfolio investment •Is a poor benchmark for judging an investment opportunity •Places the entire burden of repayment on the borrower no matter the outcome •Creates the conditions that lead to failure e.g. high interest rates burden business, projects and indeed economies Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection What is and what is not ‘Islamic’ in modern banking and finance •The pressure to create products to compete against interest based banking has compromised Islamic banking •Credit cards, consumer product loans, mortgages, car loans have all been developed within the Islamic system but they offend the principle of partnership •The growing financing/loan products also rely on notional financial charges (rent) that differ little from interest calculations •Financial charges are payable no matter the outcome and therefore cannot be considered Islamic as they impart no risk to the lender •Lenders in many modern Islamic financing arrangements remain indifferent to the outcome of the loan and expect full payment no matter what A method of finance that does not involve the lender in becoming a partner in the funded enterprise is not Islamic Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles There are only three truly Islamic financing arrangements that can be permitted: •Mashareqa •Mudaraba •Leasing Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection A typical Islamic car loan arrangement Financial Charge Based on the principle of rent or utility payable even if the car does not work, breaks down or is written off Issues Why? •Repayable by the borrower under all circumstances •They create enterprise ownership on the part of the lender •Personal loan made by reference to the borrower not the car (risk is the borrower) •They create partnership with the borrower •They create mutual benefit without recourse for failure Cost of Car •Car if returned shall be valued at full purchase price (no accommodation of the financial charges paid for utility to date) •Defaults (non payments) do not harm the bank in any way There is no risk to the lender ! Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles There are only three truly Islamic financing arrangements that can be permitted: •Mashareqa •Mudaraba •Leasing Why? •They create enterprise ownership on the part of the lender •They create partnership with the borrower •They create mutual benefit without recourse for failure Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Issues for Islamic Banking Operations v Interest System •Documentary credits •Criteria for mark-up and PLS ratios •Replacing interest functions •Stock exchange investment •Spread and risk margins •Rates of return and comparing opportunities •Bills of exchange Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles There are only three truly Islamic financing arrangements that can be permitted: •Mashareqa •Mudaraba •Leasing Why? Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Issues for Inter-bank relations in an Islamic Banking System •Inter-bank financial markets •Short-term transfer of funds between Islamic banks •They create enterprise ownership on the part of the lender •They create partnership with the borrower •Inconsistencies between the Islamic Banking Systems in different countries •Lack of uniform accounting standards for Islamic banking •They create mutual benefit without recourse for failure Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection There are only three truly Islamic financing arrangements that can be permitted: •Mashareqa •Mudaraba Issues for internal structure and organisation • Relationship between scholars and bankers • Lack of religious guidance • Too many ‘designed’ services and products •They create enterprise ownership on the part of the lender • Need for staff training and services and product knowledge • Staff shortage and quality •They create partnership with the borrower • By-Laws •Leasing Why? •They create mutual benefit without recourse for failure Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles The Islamic world is rich in human resource, intellect and energy. It also owns 75% of the world’s energy. Why can’t the Islamic world find an original way out of the debt trap and the spiral of economic underperformance. Removing taxes and interest should be our prime target because they don’t achieve results. Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection The opportunity for Islamic Banking •There are 1.5 billion faithful in the world •Most live in the poorer (per capita GDP) countries of the world •Most live in countries with massive external debts to the World Bank and IMF and the developed nations •Their governments have the problem of collecting enough money to pay back the interest on the debt •Other than the oil rich countries with low populations and high per capita GDP balancing budgets, collecting taxes and investing in infrastructure has become difficult or impossible •How can governments free their countries from the yoke of debt and interest? Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Pakistan's problems are about ‘system failure’ •Low government revenues •Low investment (130th in the world @ 15% GDP) Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Public Debt 49.9% of GDP (2010) •Burdensome taxes •External borrowing with interest Large external interest based debt repayments High levels of national debt (e.g. to finance defense!) The system of economic realities in Pakistan •Low workforce productivity •Illiteracy at 50% External Debt $58.39 billion (2010) Tax burdens causes evasion and create a black economy PC GDP of $2,400 (PPP) 182th in the world No surplus GOP revenue to spend on vital infrastructure 2010 GOP Revenue: $25.33 billion Expenditure: $36.24 billion Source: CIA Fact book 2010 What are the economic issues facing Pakistan and many other Islamic countries? Pakistan's problems are about ‘system failure’ Systems of taxation are better suited to advanced economies with high levels of literacy and concensus based political systems. Even now taxes and interest on money remain issues dissuading the common man from realizing his aspirations and creating wealth. Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection The road to national reconstruction is: •Create surplus government revenues •Remove the burden of interest on money from public life, finances and the banking system •Remove direct and indirect taxes as the sole source of government revenue and replace it with a system based on investment and growth •Do this by placing Islamic principles as the driving force behind economic regeneration What are the economic issues facing Pakistan and many other Islamic countries? Taxes In the 1980’s the visionary political leader Margaret Thatcher realized that it was only by reducing tax burden, lowering interest rates, and providing an incentive based economy that the United Kingdom could be turned around. A Mutually Beneficial System The MBCS is a system of revenue collection that abandons taxation, removes interest and creates an incentive based economy on Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection CREATING AN INCENTIVE BASED ISLAMIC ECONOMY What the MBCS does: •Reduces sales prices of all end products and services together with reductions in transfer prices (critical in developing countries) •Uses prepaid national shares to create real reduced prices and huge government revenues •Abandons restrictive import and other taxes and duties that restrict or limit economic and social growth •Normalises exchange rate of the relationship between the Pak Rupee and other currencies •Removes interest from the economy and promotes investment on Islamic lines Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles GOP extensive price controls Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Comparing the cost of buying goods and services in Pakistan •Electricity •Petrol •Diesel Rupees •Kerosene •Gas •Telecoms •Consumer goods •Air travel duties Current controlled prices with profits to the GOP •Road tolls •Property tax •Government service fees •Etc… Current price situation in Pakistan Future nonshareholder price 30% more than GOP controlled price Non shareholder penalty SAVINGS MBCS Incentive Share Scheme Shares Shareholder Price 60% below controlled prices The MBCS shareholder pricing system Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles How does the incentive work? MBCS Incentive Share Scheme Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Comparing the cost of buying goods and services in Pakistan HOW and WHY? •Buy unit shares for cash early each year for needs (Q1) The MBCS will: •Exchange them for lower MBCS prices •Increase contributors to government revenue creation (and reduce direct tax payers to zero) •Large volume share buyers get greater cash discounts •Make ‘black’ economy non viable •Industries and individuals with very high volumes receive free import incentives •Mobilize the hidden cash in the Pak economy •Create at least 750 billion Rupees in share sale receipts in Q1 every year •Make the GOP solvent and allow large scale investment (reverse the cycle of decline) Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Massive sales of MBCS Shares in Q1 will transform Government Finances Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection •Improve liquidity from normal tax collection drag •No short term cash deficit borrowing •Facilitate budget surplus •Remove rolling budget deficits •Repay external debts MBCS Revenues Revenue Surplus Rolling Deficit Q1 GOP Spend Borrow or print Revenue flow from taxes Q2 Q3 Financial Year Q4 What are Creating the economic an incentive issues facing basedPakistan economyand along many Islamic otherprinciples Islamic countries? ! 10 FAQ’s 1. Am I really saving? 2. How do I know what I actually pay? 3. Where/how do I buy shares? 4. How much will I pay for them? 5. How do I get the incentives? 6. How do the poor manage under this system? 7. Will shares be accepted everywhere? 8. Can private enterprise enter the scheme? 9. Can I buy shares after Q1? 10. Will shares be tradable between people, groups and businesses? Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Available country wide through a wide network of distributors Cash receipts go through sellers via national banking system to PMF GOP revenue position improves Starts with MBCS share purchases The cycle of national recovery in Pakistan under the MBCS GOP and PMF fund investment GOP annual budget surpluses PMF will attract private investment funding proposals using ‘partnership’ principles GOP will retire international debt and fund infrastructure development Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles How does industry and commerce benefit? Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection •They can enjoy reduced prices through the MBCS The reducing unit cost of shares •They can buy large quantities of shares and get better savings •Importers can buy relief from duty via the share scheme •Therefore ‘input’ and ‘transfer’ costs can be reduced in the value added process •Private sector goods and services can be traded in the share system as the shares have redeemable value to the recipient •Competitive advantage will come to those in the share system •Consumers will get better prices (incentive arrangement) Shareholder s •Individuals Rs. Per Coupon 0.500 •Families 0.450 •Groups 0.400 •Village cooperatives 0.350 0.300 0.250 •Farmers 0.200 •Businesses 0.150 •Schools 0.100 •Hospitals 0.050 •Charities 0.000 29,999 99,999 199,999 299,999 449,999 599,999 799,999 Maximum number of MBCS coupons purchased •Pak expatriates •Tourists THE MORE YOU BUY THE MORE YOU SAVE Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Dealing with realities •Pakistan’s direct tax paying middle class of 1.5-1.7 million carry a population of 170 million •Taxes are not working in Pakistan •Taxpayers can’t hope in the foreseeable future to elect a government sympathetic to their plight and burden •Most of the direct tax receipts pay for the interest burden on the external national debt The MBCS’ Islamic credentials 1 It will relieve Pakistan of the burden of external debt and the obligation to pay interest on it as the system will: 1. Earn GOP revenues of Rs. 3000 billion in the first two months of each and every year from shares sales 2. And much more by the end of the year. 3. Earn significantly greater amounts as the black economy joins the MBCS or is bypassed by it 4. Hold at its disposal an accumulating foreign exchange reserve growing at a rate of US$10 billion a year •Our indebtedness holds us back from following Islamic principles in our national life Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Dealing with realities •Pakistan’s direct tax paying middle class of 1.5-1.7 million carry a population of 170 million •Taxes are not working in Pakistan •Taxpayers can’t hope in the foreseeable future to elect a government sympathetic to their plight and burden •Most of the direct tax receipts pay for the interest burden on the external national debt •Our indebtedness holds us back from following Islamic principles in our national life The MBCS’ Islamic credentials 2 It will allow the GOP to: 1. Retire all GOP debt based on interest 2. Direct surplus cash funds into the reconstruction of the economy via the Islamic financing and banking system 3. Fund infrastructure and manufacturing/commercial developments in the public and private domain 4. Eradicate interest based lending throughout the entire economy based not on edict but by preference 5. Strengthen the Islamic financing system by investing in its development Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Banks and the MBCS •Customers can open MBCS share accounts for deposit •Customers can buy MBCS shares from the banks •Banks will deposit MBCS shares with the central bank •Banks can buy/lend/trade MBCS shares •MBCS cash receipts will flow through the banks to GOP escrow account Supreme Sharia Committee GOP Central Bank PMF Operating funds & agents deposits MBCS share issuer MBCS agency network GOP Escrow A/c Bank A Share sales Capital Cash from sales MBCS share deposits Foreign reserves and bullion Bank B Bank C Bank D Pakistan Banking System Assets Customer and bank MBCS share deposits Products Rupee cash deposits Bank E Services Islamic financing instruments using MBCS funds Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Key benefits of the working relationship between the Banks and MBCS •Employment of 5 million + agents country wide •Money remittances at banks increases as cash comes out in the open and into the system •Banks can sell/trade in shares •Support for Islamic financing/banking and funding from PMF/Central Bank surplus MBCS funds Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection The reason Pakistan has failed to register its economic promise as a country is that the massive black economy is not recorded and further that black money invests only in the short term and in non added value activities. It does this to remain out of reach of the authorities. Save THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN THE MODERN HISTORY OF PAKISTAN WILL BE THE REALISATION THAT THROUGH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SURPLUS THE PROCESS OF INVESTMENT CAN BEGIN ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE. Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles MBCS investment process 1. Applicants to state business case in business plan 2. Bank guarantee 3. Proofed by two teams (business and banking) 4. Applicant puts up 20% funds 5. Central bank decides how much and mode of Islamic financing Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Through a financial partnership based on Islamic principles between GOP, businesses, entrepreneurs, private utility companies, communities, co-operatives and the people the infrastructure of Pakistan can be rebuilt by plan and programme using MBCS funds. 6. No cash paid direct to project 7. Withdrawal rights reserved/agreed It must focus however on priorities. Criteria for GOP national investment programme Focus Ports and airports Facilitate greater import export trade with minimal demurrage Roads, canals and rail Create logistics network in Pakistan to effectively manage flow of goods to and from manufacturing/export/import centres Electricity Create guaranteed supply of power to industry and domestic users with minimal transmission losses Oil and gas To maximise the recovery, refining and use of hydrocarbons through improved energy infrastructure e.g. pipelines, refineries and production facilities. Water and irrigation To provide to the entire population of Pakistan a guaranteed safe water supply for personal use and in support of agriculture MBCS free zones To support the growth of added value trade and industry Technology zones Schools and colleges Hospitals and clinics Housing and Urban Development Objective To support the growth of added value trade and industry The key to real development will be the human productivity factor and the ability of Pakistan to innovate. A healthy well educated population will support this and will move the country towards improved law and order. Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Is the MBCS Islamic? 1. Shares are priced in favor of the large volume buyer (i.e. the rich)? No. 2. Best consumer prices will only be enjoyed by the rich? No. 3. Will open market trading lead to abuse? No. 4. Buyers may hoard shares and inflate prices? No. 5. Will banks charge interest on share accounts? No. 6. If share trading values go up what increase in underlying value are they tied to? (GDP) 7. The MBCS cannot cure inflation? (Wrong) 8. The MBCS does not encourage saving and investment only consumerism. (Wrong) Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles The MBCS test for support to Islamic banking and investment •Invested funds must be earned properly (Halal) •Profits should be reasonable for the risk and business •No penalty for loans retuned before maturity •Defaults to be handled fairly and with proper notice and remedy periods •Only profit and loss and leasing loans permitted •Borrower puts up 20% •No insuring of risk •Funds from profits to act as failure insurance Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection The strategy for moving Pakistan towards Islamic banking and financing •It is impractical to prohibit all interest based transactions •The most prudent strategy is to demonstrate the benefits of MBCS Islamic funding over interest arrangements •The tests in the first column provide a superior and fairer investment vehicle for rebuilding Pakistan •Investors will prefer these arrangements to interest and banks will follow their lead •GOP will disburse funds from MBCS on the basis of Islamic funding only •Bankruptcy law not to apply •No litigation between parties Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles How the system works Investment opportunities will be assessed against their returns and other contributory factors set by policy and Islamic principles Each and every financial service within the new MBCS funded banking system will be provided on Mashareqa, Mudaraba or on Lease basis The MBCS creates a value added feedback loop into the GOP’s primary source of investment funds Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection MBCS Escrow Account GOP Pakistan Finance and Banking Sector PMF and Central Bank Investment assessment and funding vehicle Mashareqa Mudaraba Private Investment Base Leased Public Investment Base The Pakistan economy = quality private investment + prudent GOP infrastructure development and the MBCS Share Scheme Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles The MBCS test for support to Islamic Banking Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection •Invested funds must be earned properly (Halal) Why the MBCS will move Pakistan to a pure Islamic financing system • Massive Government MBCS revenues and liquidity will place GOP as a net lender (see slides 14 and 15) •No penalty for loans retuned before maturity • •Defaults to be handled fairly and with proper notice and remedy periods The terms of the loans will be advantageous and Islamic (see first column) • GOP will be significant shareholder by choice in many new and existing enterprises through banks and other finance institutions sourcing loans through GOP. • Land reforms will create huge amount of revenue that GOP will share (invest) with private sector managing arable and grazing lands. • The alternative economies will disappear as hidden money emerges to compete for investment and buy MBCS shares. •Profits should be reasonable for the risk and business •Only profit and loss and leasing loans permitted •Borrower puts up 20% •No insuring of risk •Funds from profits to act as failure insurance •Bankruptcy law not to apply •No litigation between parties Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles The MBCS test for support to Islamic Banking Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection •Invested funds must be earned properly (Halal) •Profits should be reasonable for the risk and business •No penalty for loans retuned before maturity •Defaults to be handled fairly and with proper notice and remedy periods •Only profit and loss and leasing loans permitted •Borrower puts up 20% •No insuring of risk •Funds from profits to act as failure insurance •Bankruptcy law not to apply How GOP can assist the process of entrenching Islamic banking in Pakistan by addressing the following: • Imposing interest based laws on all banks is restrictive • A lender of last resort is missing i.e. What will an Islamic state Govt. do for the Islamic banking system? • Interest as a tax deductible expense for businesses and home owners (unfair competition). Acknowledgement that tax and interest are enmeshed and unfair. • Banking tribunals (mediation in a civilised society) • Promote PLS financing for industrial investment (and legal support for PLS) • Clearer demarcation between private and public investment interest in projects • Invest in the Islamic banking sector development to spread the use of ‘partnership based’ investment arrangements. •No litigation between parties Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles The MBCS test for support to Islamic Banking Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection •Invested funds must be earned properly (Halal) The key factor for success is the relationship of the Islamic bank with the depositor •Profits should be reasonable for the risk and business •Islamic banking doesn’t invest enough in image building •No penalty for loans retuned before maturity •Defaults to be handled fairly and with proper notice and remedy periods •Only profit and loss and leasing loans permitted •Borrower puts up 20% •No insuring of risk •Funds from profits to act as failure insurance •Bankruptcy law not to apply •No litigation between parties •It must shed the image of being esoteric, restricted, high risk and slow to develop •Developing low, medium and high risk investment products through portfolio vehicles is attractive •A credit card is essential in the competition with other banking systems •Acceptable short and medium term cash flow financing management facilities for businesses and individuals is also critical •Banks must become a credible and respected gobetween linking investment with opportunity Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Japan One of the great manufacturing countries of the world with high GDP and high HDI levels proved that it is not interest rates that create wealth but hard work, patience and wise investment. In fact they understood more than any that high interest is a hindrance. When money is seen as a community asset its only value is the opportunity it gives to invest and share. How it is invested is a balance between paper returns and utility for greater purposes. Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Stage 1 – Move all ‘investment’ via MBCS to investment or leasing Using the investment principles outlined in previous slides the process should be very rapid Stage 2 – Reduce the dependence of the banking system on interest The banking system needs to invest in developing consumer products that provide real Islamic alternatives. Growing MBCS projects can attract banks and private investors as well. Stage 3 – Remove GOP interest arrangements for state financing Retirement of international debt is critical. Domestic borrowing should only be to fund Islamic projects as investors or leasors. Stage 4 – Move private investment to non interest methods The growth in the Islamic investment base in projects will allow diversification of investor base and balance risk Stage 5 – Invest in the development of Islamic banking products This applies to the infrastructure and availability of the banking system as well. Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection Japan 2 Some thoughts on the challenges of Islamic banking and finance: However the Japanese still cling to the idea of distancing savers from investments. •We are trying to establish a sense of responsible investment country wide In Japan’s post office savings accounts there is nearly 7 times the Indian Budget held in very, very low interest accounts. •We are asking people to be aware of their responsibility to the wider community in their investment decisions It must be asked if an Islamic based society would allow this dispossession to continue. Is it fair for an opportunity to link saver to investment to be missed? •We are asking people to be prudent and realistic in their expectations •We are trying to relieve the burdens on the poor and those supporting them •We are trying to achieve a paradigm shift in one of the most powerful and conservative business institutions ‘the banks’ •Banks do not own their depositors money they manage it. It is only the lack of depositors interest in change that holds back Islamic banking. Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles An Islamic solution to the economic issues facing Pakistan The MBCS is applicable to developed countries For nearly forty years after 1945 successive British Governments sought the solution to Britain's ailing economy •Key issues were: •Underinvestment (1945-1977) •Poor competitiveness (1945-1979) •Poor labour productivity (1945-1982) •Aging infrastructure (1945-1980) •Balance of Payments deficits (1945-1975) •Devaluation of the Pound Sterling (1966) •High taxation of income and goods (1945-1982) Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles An Islamic solution to the economic issues facing Pakistan Investment participation “….the primary economic virtue of Thatcherism was in lowering the structural costs of doing business. Labour and financial markets were deregulated, and privatisation of utilities - oil and gas, power, water and so on - resulted in what economists call lower input costs.” Madsen Pirie, President of the Adam Smith Institute 2001 Underlying wealth Value of earnings Effort pays off What happened in the UK when taxes were lowered? Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles An Islamic solution to the economic issues facing Pakistan Has the Thatcher economic model solved Britain’s problems? The top rate of income tax in 1979 was 83%—and with a surcharge on top of that for investment income. In her Government’s first budget, the top rate was cut to 60% and the basic rate from 33% to 30% . By the late 1980’s Income tax for many people was down to 25% and the top rate set at 40%. 1. Still high inequality in earnings 2. Poverty in inner cities 3. Law and order are still issues 4. Stealth taxes are hitting the middle classes 5. Britain’s industrial/manufacturing output is at an all time low 6. Personal debt is also very high ‘Using the Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey approach to the measurement of poverty, it is estimated that 25 per cent of the adult population of Britain is poor.’ © Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2005 The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, is about to raise Britain’s taxes to their highest-ever level, collecting nearly £1m a minute, according to an Ernst & Young analysis. Calculations by Patrick Minford, of Cardiff Business School, show that, including VAT, excise duties, National Insurance and income tax, a basic rate taxpayer pays £48.50 in tax on every £100 earned. Among higher rate taxpayers the figure is £57.10. Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles An Islamic solution to the economic issues facing Pakistan The ITEM report warns that while UK business investment was originally believed to have grown at 5.5% in 2004, this has since been revised down to just 3.4%. Export figures have also been revised down, from 2.8% in the 12 months to the end of the first quarter to only 2%. The Ernst & Young ITEM Club What are the key issues facing Britain in the Post Thatcherism era? •High tax is making a comeback •Energy is not so abundant (North Sea Oil Era is nearly over) •Social costs are rising •The health service is expanding to meet greater healthcare expectations without investment and income •The population is aging rapidly •There are no incentives to create wealth and create stability? Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles The real worry for society in Britain as it is in Pakistan is the effect of joblessness. High unemployment is economically, politically and socially dysfunctional and is the true nightmare of all forms of government. People don’t normally take to the streets when their employed, housed and fed. An Islamic solution to the economic issues facing Pakistan Source: UK Office for National Statistics Notes: People in employment, unemployed and economically inactive make up the total household population aged 16 and over, measured through the Labour Force Survey on a consistent basis since 1971. Working age is defined as 16-64 for men and 16-59 for women. Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles An Islamic solution to the economic issues facing Pakistan How can the MBCS Work for the UK? It can work as well in a developed economy as in a developing economy: Balancing the budgets of the world’s fifth largest economy will prove easier under the MBCS and will guarantee surpluses based on real value growth in an economy that still has many dysfunctional aspects. Sooner rather than later the UK will have to face up to the question of how it creates wealth and whether there is enough of it to meet social and economic aspirations •It will remove the disincentive of (high) taxes •Coupons and revenues can be issued and collected securely through a high tech banking network •It will attract the unemployed as agents •Lower input costs will revolutionize British manufacturing •The burden of providing a health service and a state pension scheme can be funded from improved GDP growth •Government investment can be used to ensure future cash flows beyond the Coupon Scheme •Removing VAT is a key issue in helping the less well off Creating an incentive based economy along Islamic principles Islamic Banking and Government Revenue Collection What is our purpose? •To stop punishing those who put their talents to good use by demanding taxes, duties and levies •To remove the burden of interest from those who have to borrow to create value •To place personal, business and state finances on a sound footing by balancing needs and opportunities with prudence and responsibility.