SESRIC attended the Inaugural Meeting of the Inter Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) / Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPCOM) Joint Task Team on Islamic Finance (IFTT) held on 10 September 2020.

The inaugural online meeting of IFTT brought together 25 experts in the areas of national accounts, external sector statistics (ESS), and other macroeconomic statistics from countries where Islamic finance is prevalent, and experts from relevant international/regional organizations.

The meeting focused on several background documents of the IFTT such as terms of reference and work programme of IFTT, and draft information note which will be submitted to upcoming Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts (AEG) and BOPCOM meetings to be held in November 2020. The joint task team also discussed the possibilities to collaborate on selected research topics on the terminologies and statistical treatment of Islamic finance activities, and the draft guidance note that will be the final output of the IFTT for endorsement at the AEG and BOPCOM meetings in 2021.

The IFTT has been established by the ISWGNA and BOPCOM to carry out further research and develop methodology/guidance on the treatment of Islamic finance in national accounts and ESS. The IFTT replaces the ISWGNA Task Force on Islamic Finance which was formed back in 2017 to develop guidance on the statistical treatment of Islamic finance transactions and flows in the national accounts.