SINERGI INTERMEDIASI SOSIAL PERBANKAN SYARIAH DAN LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (LED) DALAM MENUNJANG KESEJAHTERAAN MASYARAKAT

Abstract

Islamic banking that is currently developing can not be separated from criticism because it is not pro-poor. This criticism can be attributed to several indicators, such as the dominance of non-profit sharing contract (Murabahah) that can only be enjoyed by the middle to upper class society, or the lack of optimization of the innovative Islamic banking products that can touch the majority of the poor. The main cause of the limited access of the poor to Islamic banking is the lack of skills and abilities so that they can not utilize the Islamic banking services optimally, especially the financing facility. Therefore, the financing for the poor should be preceded by the formation of capacity of the society rather than the capital investment process. This society empowerment process is the role that Islamic banking performs in social mission or social intermediation role. The role of social intermediation can be done by Islamic banking by utilizing social funds; zakat, infaq, shadaqah, wakaf and grant (ZISWAH). This program can be defined as the activity of training and preparing poor people who are not bankable in order to be ready to get financing facility. In practice, this social intermediation program has limited funding and also facilities and infrastructure that will complicate the implementation of social intermediation if it involves only the interaction of the two parties (Islamic banking and society). To overcome this problem, social intermediation can be synergized with Local Economic Development (LED) policy. Local Economic Development (LED) policy through two main strategies namely the formation of economic cluster and partnership forum is expected to optimize the role of social intermediation of Islamic banking through government and other stakeholder support in the form of facilities and infrastructure and capital mobilization.