Liquidity Management

Paper presented at the 5th International Islamic Finance Conference 2007, organized by Monash University, Kuala Lumpur, 3rd – 4th September 2007.

Commodity Murabahah Programme (CMP): An Innovative Approach to Liquidity Management By: Dr. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki * Department of Economics Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia P.O. Box, 50728 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Abstract Liquidity is an important characteristic of banks. By their very nature, banks transform the term of their liabilities to have different maturities on the asset side of the balance sheet. At the same time, banks must be able to meet their commitments such as deposits at the point at which they become due. Thus, liquidity management lies at the heart of confidence in the banking operation. Customers place their deposits with a bank, confident they can withdraw the deposit when they wish. If the ability of the bank to pay out on demand is questioned, all its business may be lost overnight. The importance of liquidity transcends the individual institution, since a liquidity shortfall at a single institution may invoke systemic repercussion causing harm to the whole financial stability of a country. Therefore it is important for banks to have adequate liquidity potential when it can obtain sufficient funds promptly and at a reasonable cost. For Islamic banks, liquidity risk is a significant risk owing to the limited availability of Shariah-compatible money market instruments and lender-of-last-resort (LOLR) facilities. Hence, the recent introduction of commodity murabahah instrument based on tawarruq concept by Central Bank of Malaysia is deemed as an innovative approach to liquidity management. It certainly adds to the list of instruments for Islamic banks to manage their liquidity more effectively and efficiently. This paper reviews the structure and mechanism of commodity

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