Islamic personal financing for post-pandemic economic recovery in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic has started to subside across the world. However, many developing countries including Malaysia are finding it challenging to restart their economies due to the large damage to all sectors of the economy. The governments in these developing countries are contemplating different methods to revive their economies and resume normal economic activities. In this regard, Islamic personal financing (IPF) instruments may play a crucial role in rejuvenating economic activities. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the potential of IPF to restart economic activities in Malaysia after the COVID-19 pandemic. First, this study analyzes the impact of the pandemic on different economic indicators such as economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), trade, employment, and investments. Second, this research proposed three IPF tools namely Service Ijarah, Murabahah/Service Ijarah Line-of-Credit with Wakalah, and Murabahah/Service Ijarah Credit Card to restart the economy by fulfilling the financing needs of individuals, businesses, and industries. This study contributes to offering a policy roadmap for governments considering different options to restart their economies in a sustainable way after the Covid-19 pandemic.