NUMBER OF SYARIAH BANKING SERVICE USERS REACHES 2.8 PCT

Bandung, W Java, March 8 (ANTARA)- The number of users of Syariah banking services in Indonesia in the last ten years reached 2.8 percent of people using bank services in the country, a banker said.
"This means that Syariah banks in the country has yet to give a significant contribution to the national economic development, apparently because Syariah banking still constitute a sub-system of conventional banking", Syariah Economic and Management director, Ismail Yusanto said here in a discussion on 'Democracy and Welfare' at Padjadjaran University here Sunday.
If the Syariah banking developed into a system, the conventional system one will automatically becomes sub-system, and sooner or later will even disappear," he said.
The result of surveys conducted by PPM, Surveillance Institute and Ray Morgan showed that from 2001 through 2007, the demand for Syariah banking services in 2008 reached 60 to 83 percent.
The demand, however, was not comparable to that of conventional banking, Ismail said.
"This means the root of the problem has yet to be solved one and for all. The Syariah system has been applied to the economy," he said, depending however on the national banking architects.
It remains a choice whether to use the Syariah or conventional banking system, he added. ***2***