Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is pushing for synergy and collaboration among all parties for improving Islamic finance literacy and inclusion to bolster Islamic finance and economy.

"The development of Islamic finance in Indonesia will not be able to progress if it is only carried out alone," Chief Executive of Financial Services Business Conduct, Education, and Consumer Protection Supervision at the OJK, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, stated here on Friday.

Synergy and collaboration is encouraged among parties, such as the OJK, Bank Indonesia (BI), the National Sharia Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (DSN MUI), financial services business players, and stakeholders, so that they can become a basic movement to advance Islamic economy and finance in Indonesia.

"I hope the cooperation that is established between OJK and relevant parties can continue not only during Ramadan but also carried out sustainably and consistently," she remarked.

Based on a survey conducted by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the Islamic finance literacy index rose, from nine percent in 2022 to 39 percent in 2023.

Related news: Synergizing with ministries to boost Islamic economy literacy: KNEKS

Efforts to improve Islamic finance literacy and inclusion are made by the OJK along with stakeholders through the Islamic Finance Ramadan Celebration Program (Gerak Syariah).

Gerak Syariah is a national Islamic finance campaign held during the month of Ramadan, with the aim of accelerating the increase in Islamic finance literacy and inclusion index as well as sharing the benefits of Islamic finance through the use of social funds with the community.

Through the campaign, the OJK is committed to creating a community that is literate in the field of Islamic finance and building inclusive Islamic finance.

Head of the Literacy, Inclusion, and Communication Department at OJK Aman Santosa stated that under the Gerak Syariah campaign in 2024, some 1,345 activities comprising 742 literacy activities, 265 inclusion activities, and 338 social activities have been carried out.

Those activities reached 3,057,194 participants for the education activities and pushed for inclusion for 1,175,019 people in various regions in Indonesia. In addition, Rp7.24 billion (around US$456,690) had been disbursed to 93,768 people participating in the social activities.

Related news: OJK bolsters Islamic financial institutions to boost literacy

Translator: Martha Herlinawati, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2024