Performance of Islamic Banking and Conventional banking in Pakistan : a Comparative Study

Islamic banking and finance in Pakistan started in 1977-78 with the elimination of interest in compliance with the Principles of Islamic Shari’ah in Islamic banking practices. Since then, amendments in financial system to allow the issuance of new interest-free instrument of corporate financing, promulgation of ordinance to permit the establishment of Mudaraba companies and floatation of Mudaraba Certificates, constitution of Commission for Transformation of Financial System (CTFS), and the establishments of Islamic Banking Department by the State Bank of Pakistan are some of the key steps taken place by the governments. The aim of this study is to examine and to evaluate the performance of the first Islamic bank in Pakistan, i.e. Meezan Bank Limited (MBL) in comparison with that of a group of 5 Pakistani conventional banks. The study evaluates performance of the Islamic bank (MBL) in profitability, liquidity, risk, and efficiency for the period of 2003-2007. Financial ratios (12 in total) such as Return on Asset (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), Loan to Deposit ratio (LDR), Loan to Assets ratio (LAR), Debt to Equity ratio (DER), Asset Utilization (AU), and Income to Expense ratio (IER) are used to assess banking performances. T-test and F-test are used in determining the significance of the differential performance of the two groups of banks. The study found that MBL is less profitable, more solvent (less risky), and also less efficient comparing to the average of the 5 conventional banks. However, there was no significant difference in liquidity between the two sets of banks. The reasons are due to the facts that conventional banks in Pakistan have longer history and experience in doing banking business and hold dominating position in the financial sector with its large share in the overall financial assets of Pakistan, as compared to Islamic banks, which in true sense, started only a few years back with all letter and spirit. Albeit, the study found that MBL is less profitable, more solvent (less risky), and less efficient during 2003-2007, however, it is improving considerably over time indicating convergence with the performance of the conventional banks