ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Pakistan to Egypt Sajid Bilal has said a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Corporation (OIC) hosted by Islamabad later this month would help the Muslim world “express solidarity” with the Afghan people and galvanize international powers in aid of Afghanistan, which is facing an acute humanitarian crisis.
Pakistan will host the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers on December 19 in Islamabad. The meeting’s focus is on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
The United States and other donors cut off financial aid on which Afghanistan became dependent during 20 years of war and more than $9 billion of the country’s hard currency assets were frozen.
The United Nations is warning that nearly 23 million people –- about 55 percent of the population –- are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine as winter takes hold in the impoverished, landlocked country.
“The upcoming CFM would express Muslim Ummah’s solidarity with the Afghan people and would galvanize international support to arrest the fast deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan in the best interest of the people of Afghanistan, the region, and the world at large,” Bilal was quoted by APP news agency as saying at a press briefing on Sunday.
“With the advent of winter, the situation could aggravate the world’s largest humanitarian crisis if left unattended,” Bilal said, adding: “The continued engagement of the international community with Afghanistan was imperative.”
Highlighting Pakistan’s consistent efforts for the Afghan people, the ambassador said the first extraordinary session of the OIC CFM on Afghanistan was also held in Islamabad in the 1980s.
“In recent months, Pakistan’s Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister had extensively engaged with the world leaders to address the humanitarian situation arising in Afghanistan since August this year,” he added.
Last Friday, donors agreed to transfer $280 million from a frozen trust fund to the World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF to support nutrition and health in Afghanistan, the World Bank said as it sought to help a country facing famine and economic freefall.
The World Bank-administered Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund will this year give $180 million to WFP to scale up food security and nutrition operations and $100 million to UNICEF to provide essential health services, the bank said in a statement.
The money would aim to support food security and health programs in Afghanistan as it sinks into a severe economic and humanitarian crisis that accelerated in August when the Taliban overran the country as the Western-backed government collapsed and the last US troops withdrew.
OIC Islamabad meeting to help Muslim world express solidarity with Afghans — envoy
https://arab.news/2nmjm
OIC Islamabad meeting to help Muslim world express solidarity with Afghans — envoy
- Pakistan will host 17th Extraordinary Session of OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers on December 19
- Meeting’s focus is on humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan where 23 million people face extreme hunger
Pakistan revises screening criteria for Shariah-compliant index to boost investor confidence
- Revised framework to encourage listed companies to adopt Shariah-compliant capital structures, says regulator
- Revisions introduce rating mechanism for companies to enable investors to assess Shariah compliance levels
KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) announced on Thursday that it has approved revisions to the Shariah screening criteria and methodology for companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that comply with Islamic regulations, with the move aimed at boosting investor confidence.
The PSX-KMI All Share Index comprises all Shariah-compliant companies listed on the PSX. The index has been designed to track the performance of all Shariah-compliant companies listed on the stock market.
The SECP’s decision to approve the revisions was taken after a meeting Pakistan’s finance secretary chaired on implementing initiatives in line with the Federal Shariat Court’s 2024 ruling on eliminating “riba” or interest from the country before Jan. 1, 2028.
“The revised framework is expected to support the development of the Islamic capital market, facilitate informed investment decisions, and encourage listed companies to adopt Shariah-compliant capital structures,” the SECP said in a statement.
“Under the new criteria, the non-compliant debt-to-total assets ratio has been reduced from 37 percent to 33 percent.”
A new Shariah compliance rating mechanism has been introduced as per the revisions, the SECP said. The new rating mechanism assigns three, four or five-star ratings to qualifying companies to enhance transparency and help investors assess Shariah compliance levels.
The statement said that a list of Shariah-compliant companies for the PSX-KMI All Share Index will be published with a five-working-day objection window for evidence-based requests for revision.
The SECP said that a mechanism has also been introduced for the interim inclusion of newly listed companies, subject to screening and approval by the KMI Index Committee.
“SECP has further advised PSX to consider additional enhancements, including reducing the non-compliant investments-to-total assets ratio from 33 percent to 30 percent, introducing quarterly index updates, and automating data collection,” the statement said.
Islamic finance has become a significant part of the global financial system, with countries across the Middle East and Southeast Asia using Shariah-compliant instruments to attract savings and investment.
In Pakistan, officials see the sector as a way to broaden financial inclusion, promote a savings culture, and offer alternatives to conventional interest-based products.
The Central Directorate of National Savings, the country’s main state-run savings institution, last month recorded Rs23.6 billion ($84 million) in Islamic finance inflows between July 1, 2025, and Jan. 23, 2026.
The inflows brought the institution close to its Rs25 billion ($89 million) Islamic finance target for the ongoing fiscal year ending in June, reflecting a rising demand for interest-free investment options in Pakistan.
