Re: Does adjusting for inflation count as riba?
Interest-free financing has reached the point where even a predominantly non-Muslim economic powerhouse is adjusting its government policies to try and position itself as a centre for Islamic financing.
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=194460
“Singapore is positioning itself as a new hub for Islamic finance by capitalising on its status as a major Asian financial centre and on its strengths in areas such as asset management, insurance, REITs (real estate investment trusts) and project finance,” he said.
In its fiscal 2005 budget, the Singapore government announced two new tax incentives for Islamic finance.
First, the government waived the double imposition of stamp duties in Islamic transactions that involve real property. It then extended to sukuk (Islamic bonds) the same concessionary tax treatment available to conventional bonds to encourage local and foreign issuers to issue Islamic bonds.
Also, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has teamed up with the FTSE Group and Yasaar Group to create a new Syariah index series.
To move up the ladder, Singapore has opened talks with several Middle Eastern banking groups to shift their regional operating base from Malaysia to the island republic.
Singapore is also hopeful that its growing trade and investment ties with the Middle East countries – flushed with oil dollars – and other countries with large Muslim populations like India and China, will help it to develop an Islamic finance industry, the analyst said.