Hussein Elasrag

Economics of Waqf Hussein Elasrag

Waqf can be used not only to provide immediate necessities to the poor, but also to create or strengthen business support institutions that can lower the cost of doing business for the poor. Awqaf can also be used to support and build infrastructure institutions that can improve corporate governance and reduce the cost of doing business. For example, information bureaus, market regulatory bodies, the provision of accounting services, and other such shared services for a group or for the entire society can be funded through waqf. The waqf system can contribute significantly against massive reduction in government expenditure, which leads to a smaller budget deficit, which in turn lowers the need for government borrowing and leads to a reduction in the rate of interest, consequentially reining in a basic impediment to private investment and growth. This book aims to study the economic role of the Waqf institution.