Academic Proceeding

The interest rate has been a major issue worldwide, as well as in ASEAN countries. It shifts almost every minute driven by lots of factors. The main goal of this research is to look at the relationship between lending interest rate with the macroeconomic variables related to economic activities including during crisis periods and to forecast the rate in 2020. Approaches used in the study include line charts, multiple linear regression model and the ARIMA model. The paper utilized annual data period between 1971 and 2019 in Malaysia which includes three crisis periods while forecasting into the fourth crisis as we currently face the COVID-19 period. The result shows that the lending interest rate has somewhat negative correlation with the macroeconomic variables throughout three major financial crises in Malaysia. The GDP growth and manufacturing are found to have significant effect on the lending interest rate via multiple linear regression. However, the industry and the agriculture have no significant impact on the lending interest rate. As COVID-19 fractured world economies and led countries to great depression, worldwide central banks decided to take action to lower interest rates to significantly boost consumer spending and cash flow. Due to this reason, the findings revealed the actual value of lending interest rate in 2020 is 3.51 while as the projected value of lending interest rate in 2020 is 4.85 which indicates that the actual value is slightly smaller compared to the forecasted value.

The use of blockchain technology in financing has been based on its high benefits of efficiency and transparency. However, not many in-depth discussions have been done on such blockchain utilization for Islamic social finance or the metaverse. This paper further explores these three areas of blockchain, the metaverse and Islamic social finance by proposing the use of blockchain and the metaverse for social projects of providing education to the underprivileged with the use of Islamic social finance instruments. In fulfilling this objective this research will explain how blockchain technology was applied in Islamic social finance through the case study of Blossom Smart sukuk, thereafter the opportunities for education under Islamic financial principles through blockchain in metaverse will be explored. The authors believe that further innovation in this area would see renaissance in Islamic social finance both in the real world and in metaverse.

An abstract is written in Arabic.

An abstract is written in Arabic.

According to the Financial Stability Board's recent study, crypto-asset market capitalisation grew 3.5 times in 2021 to USD2.6 trillion. Still, the market remains a small portion of the overall global financial system, and direct connections between crypto assets and systemically important financial institutions and core financial markets are limited at the present time. The market, according to the European Central Bank, represents less than 1% of the global financial system in terms of size, but it is still similar in size to, for example, the securitised sub-prime mortgage markets that triggered the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. However, most central banks perceive the use of cryptocurrencies for payments to be trivial or limited to niche groups and not widely used in critical financial services (including payments) on which the real economy depends. Besides, the different incidences of price volatility in cryptocurrency markets have, so far, been contained within crypto-asset markets and have not spilled over to other financial markets and infrastructures. This report - which is based on the notes and commentaries shared by the participants of the workshop "Cryptos: Distinguishing Hype and Realities in Islamic Finance", held at SOAS, University of London on 16th June 2022 - discusses the above-mentioned topic in some detail. Although the full commentaries are extremely valuable and beneficial, this 'summary of commentaries' aims to discuss the most crucial concerns regarding cryptos that the world faces today. The report gives some insights regarding the crypto-asset industry and sheds light on some legal and Shari'ah issues that can arise in cryptocurrencies. To serve this purpose, this report is a brief compilation, with selective editing, of the notes and commentaries shared by individuals prior to the workshop. A list of contributors is placed at the end of this report.

Ever since the success of GoFundMe, an American charity- or donation-based online crowdfunding launched in 2010, this platform has become popular among not-for-profit organizations to raise funds to support their social activities and projects. However, the use of this online platform within the Islamic social finance domain, particularly by the government bodies is very limited. Hence, this paper provides a case study of Asnaf Care, a charity crowdfunding platform that was launched by a state zakat authority in Malaysia, i.e., Lembaga Zakat Negeri Kedah (LZNK) to specifically assist eligible beneficiaries who are affected by the global pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19). The case study aims to assess the effectiveness of this platform in raising funds to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the affected zakat recipients. In this discourse, key features of Asnaf Care, its campaigns or projects, and the total collected funds since its launch in March 2020 until December 2020 are highlighted. The case study is hoped to pave the way for any zakat authorities in Malaysia or worldwide in exploring an alternative digital platform to raise additional funds during financial crises due to pandemics, calamities, or natural disasters.