Islamic Banking Starts In Austria

An Austrian bank is going to introduce Islamic bank which prohibits banks from dealing with businesses that are considered sinful, such as alcohol, weapons, gambling and pornography.

Amid the continuing migrant crisis in Europe, an Austrian bank is going to introduce Interest-free accounts for the country’s growing Muslim population.

BAWAG PSK will launch the accounts in Vienna next month, allowing customers to conduct their banking according to Islamic law.

Sharia banking prohibits charging interest, as well as transactions with companies that invest in gambling, alcohol or pornography.

It also does not allow buying homes on interest. Instead, the bank purchases the house and resells it to the customer who pays in regular installments.

Claudia Lemlihi, head of marketing, said that the bank would launch a new current account that instead of charging or paying interest would charge a fixed fee. She added that the account, named ‘Amana’, was tailored specifically to the needs of Muslims living in Austria.

Austrian paper Kleine Zeitung says Islamic banking is growing worldwide, with the amount of money invested in Islamic financial products growing to around three billion Euros by 2018.

There are now an estimated 600,000 Muslims living in the country, making up seven per cent of the total population.

Some had come over the past few decades, fleeing conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s, but last year saw a huge rise in immigration from the Middle East as Austria was caught up in the European migrant crisis.

Figures released in November showed the country’s population growing at a rate of 60,000 a year thanks to mass immigration, with 1.5 million residents born abroad, thus making up a sixth of Austria’s population.

However, the growing numbers meant the government eventually had to change its tone, with interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner saying: “A fence is not a bad thing. Anyone who has a house, has a garden and a fence.”