Additional benefits would result from making data public to the degree consistent with protecting firm-specific proprietary and supervisory information. Investors and analysts would have a more complete picture of individual firms’ strengths and vulnerabilities, thereby contributing to better market discipline. Other government agencies, academics, and additional interested parties would be able to conduct their own analyses of financial system developments and identify possible emerging stresses and risks in financial markets. One area in which better information is particularly important is the web of connections among financial institutions though channels such as interbank lending, securities lending, repurchase agreements, and derivatives contracts. Regulators also need more and better data on the links among institutions through third-party sponsors, liquidity providers, creditsupport providers, and market makers. Knowledge of such network linkages is a necessary first step to improve analysis of how shocks to institutions and markets can propagate through the financial system. Principles for developing a system of effective data and analytical tools Moving from the recognition of the need for more data to an efficient data system is not an easy task. Data collection entails costs in collection, organization, and utilization for government agencies, reporting market participants, and other interested parties. Tradeoffs may need to be faced where, for example, a particular type of information would be very costly to collect and would have only limited benefits.

As we see more of this in the horizon, we are then able to realign the current business thinking to a fresher lens of value-based financial dealings that resonate with Shariah, which propagates equitable access and circulation of wealth, with no one left behind. As efforts continue to sustainably rejuvenate the economy, a great headway to embark on is to build stronger capacity and support in real and productive economic sectors. An example is to enhance wider trade facilitation to spur growth in Islamic trade finance, which has promisingly surged to USD186 billion in size and is growing both in scale and demand. This signifies huge opportunities to be tapped on. Surely, more needs to be explored to widen the spectrum of Shariah-compliant trade finance offerings by the financial sector. A funding option for businesses can perhaps be tailored to the lifecycle of production. This allows companies to obtain short-term liquidity via the sale of current assets such as receivables and inventories to financial institutions without increasing indebtedness – which is in parallel with the maqasid of preservation of wealth, particularly on striving to avoid excessive debt beyond one’s ability to afford. The delivery of financial solutions therefore is compelled to reflect the needs of the economy and consumers, without eluding the broader benefits to the environment and people. The third and my final point relates to advancing the balanced responsibility in building social resilience. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that the pandemic has aggravated the pre-existing inequalities in the labour and income market3.