THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE ISLAMIC MICRO FINANCING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN PAKISTAN AND POVERTY

Abstract

Islamic Microfinancing Institutions (IMFI) are diverse mechanisms to empower the poor. Its implementation becomes all the more crucial in today's age and day, where the world, two years later, continues to free itself from the grip of the pandemic: COVID-19. Healthcare systems throughout Pakistan have been impacted, but the poverty level of the poor has exponentially risen. The poverty rate increased by 40%, whereas many secondary and tertiary sectors too faced the wrath of the virus, which led to a staggering decline in the country's G.D.P. by 4.8%, as per a report issued by the World Bank. By the end of this research, the objective is to discover and implement relief packages that are Shariah-compliant poverty reduction solutions and aid in compensating for the losses which COVID-19 led to. The study's findings hope to contribute toward a sustainable, better future for the IMFIs, and the positive effect they can have in alleviating poverty within the country (KPMG, 2020).