Focus On Product Excellence And Differentiation, OJK Strengthens Sharia Financial Institutions In Indonesia

JAKARTA - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) continues to strengthen Islamic financial institutions. This is to support the improvement and improvement of Islamic financial literacy and economy in Indonesia.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Mirza Adityaswara said, OJK has formulated a policy mix contained in various roadmaps and masterplans in the Islamic banking sector, Islamic capital markets and Islamic people financing banks.

"OJK will continue to strengthen Islamic financial institutions by prioritizing product excellence and differentiation," Mirza said, quoting Antara, Thursday, March 30.

One of OJK's efforts to improve Islamic financial development in Indonesia is strengthening Islamic financial institutions, which are supported by strengthening human resource capital, cutting-edge information technology and ecosystem synergy and interconnection in Islamic finance.

"Furthermore, the Islamic financial services sector will be one of the priority targets for financial inclusion in 2023," he said.

In addition, OJK is also actively synergizing with relevant ministries and institutions to advance Islamic finance in Indonesia, including through membership on the National Committee for Sharia Economics and Finance.

Mirza said that the development of the Islamic financial sector also needs to prioritize increasing Islamic economic and financial literacy in the community to maintain business sustainability in the future.

He said the Islamic economic and financial literacy index in Indonesia was a big challenge for the Islamic financial sector. Based on the 2022 National Literacy and Financial Inclusion Survey, the Islamic financial literacy index is 9.1 percent. Meanwhile, according to Bank Indonesia, the Islamic economic literacy index in 2022 is 23.3 percent.

Although it increases every year, the literacy index is still far below the national financial literacy index which has reached 49 percent.

In the spirit of celebrating the holy month of Ramadan 1444 Hijri, OJK invites the public to get to know more closely Islamic finance as an alternative in the financial ecosystem because the Islamic financial sector offers a halal, free of usury financial system and has social value.

Islamic finance also functions as a driving force to improve people's welfare through interest-free financing facilities and distribution of social funds such as zakat, infaq, shodaqoh and waqf.

Sharia financial service products are supervised by the OJK and the Sharia Supervisory Board which ensures that the financial service product scheme is in accordance with the fatwa of the National Sharia Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council.