IV.MoneyMarketandIktinaz
..SupplyofmoneyThequantityofmoneyavailableorin
circulationinanyeconomyisaffectedbythepublic,thebanking
system,and,particularly,bycentralbanks.Fromthemoneymarket
equilibriumpointofview,thisquantityistakentobeconstantinthe
shortterm.
Centralbanksininterestbasedeconomiescaneithercontroltherateof
interestorthestockofmoney,wherecontrollingeithervariablemeans
losingcontrolovertheother.Giventheprohibitionofinterestinan
Islamiceconomy,thestockofmoneybecomestheonlyvariableof
concernwhenformulatingmonetarypolicy.Chapra()points
outthatitistheresponsibilityoftheIslamiccentralbanktoensurea
sufficientmonetaryexpansionaccordingtotheneedsoftheeconomy
inordertomeetsocioeconomicgoals.Asthemonetarytoolsthatmay
beusedhavebeenwidelydiscussedintheliteraturethereisnoneedto
gooverthemhere.
Anotherimportantissueismoney(credit)creationwhichisakey
factorinthemoneysupply.Thisphenomenonoccursinaninterest
basedeconomythroughthebankingsystemsrequiredorfractional
reserveprinciple.Whilemaintainingasmallfractionoftheirtotal
reserves(totaldemanddeposits),asstipulatedbycentralbanks,
commercialbanksareabletousetheremainingpartoftheirreserves
(excessreserves)forlending.Theprocessoflendingleadsto
multiplicationofthetotalamountofmoneyincirculation,wherethe
createdorderivedmoneyisnothingbutaccountingorcreditmoney.
Theamountofmoneycreateddependsonseveralfactorsthe
percentageoftherequiredreservestipulatedbycentralbanks,the
lendingpoliciesadoptedbycommercialbanks,andtheborrowers
attitudetowardsdepositingpartoralloftheborrowedmoneybackinto
thebankingsystemfromwhichitwasborrowed.Whilecredit
creationisafactoflifein
ReviewofIslamicEconomics,Vol.,No.,
interestbasedeconomies,itis,tosaytheleast,highlyquestionablein
anIslamiceconomy.
AsstatedbySabhani(8),thisisacontroversialissue.Thereare
thosewhoholdthat(regardlessofthereasons)therewillalwaysbea
needforfunds,moneycreationisapracticalwayofmeetingthat
need,andsocreditcreationcanberelieduponinanIslamic
economy.However,holdersofthisviewdifferamongthemselveson
theeligibilityofIslamiccommercialbankstocreatecredit,andonthe
waytodoitviapublicbanksorcentralbanks.
Wewouldsaythatcreditcreationisnotasimplematter,noryeta
meretechnicalissue.Rather,itisamatterofgraveconcern,fromthe
Islamicviewpoint,inrespectofbothlegitimacyandsocioeconomic
justice.Ithas,atleast,threeclearandadverseeffectsonthe
ownershipordistributionofgrossdomesticproduct,onthepurchasing
powerofmoneyandresultingimpactofthatondistribution,andonthe
distributionofreturnsresultingfromtheuseofthecreatedcredit.
Consideringtheseeffects,itisourbeliefthatcreditcreationmaybe
resortedtoonlywhentheneedforitisprovenandprovideditis
handledbycentralbanksandthesocioeconomiceffectsjustmentioned
areproperlyconsidered.Thepossibilityofsatisfyingallthese
conditionstogetherissomethingthatremainstobeseen.
..Demandformoneyandiktinaz
MuslimeconomistsgenerallyseemtoaccepttwoofKeynesthree
motivesforholdingmoney,namelytransactionandprecaution,which
arerelatedtoincome,andrejectthethirdmotive,speculation,insofar
asitisrelatedtotherateofinterest.Inthisregard,Chapra()
statesthatthedemandformoneybalancesinanIslamiceconomy
wouldarisebasicallyfromthetwomentionedmotives(Chapra,
).Itdoesseemplausible,inprinciple,toholdthatinan
Islamiceconomypeoplewouldholdmoneyinordertomeetregular
paymentsandunforeseencontingencies.However,sincespeculationis
notaninterestderivedphenomenon,thereisnoreasonwhateverto
presumetheexclusionofthespeculativemotivefromthedemandfor
moneyinanIslamiceconomy.
Sincebothtransactionandspeculativemotivesdependonincome,the
moneydemandfunctionwillbeequaltoaconstantthatrepresentsa
fractionoftotalincome.Thequestionthatnecessarilyariseshereis:
wheredoesiktinazfitintothis?Althoughiktinazismentionedby
Muslimeconomistshereandthere,ithasnotbeen,tomyknowledge,
relatedtothedemandformoney,i.e.ithasnotbeentakentobea
determinantfactorin