Journal Article

Banks' active involvement in sustainable growth and their commitment to steer the necessary financial resources to the green economy requires the integration of finance into the macroeconomics of environmental shifts and climate change. Banks' intermediary role, and their capacity to create money and decide on whether to allocate new credits to the economy provide banks with the ability to reinforce companies' commitment to integrate sustainability indicators into their business strategies and therefore contribute to an orderly transition towards a low-carbon economy. Accordingly, this study performs a comprehensive literature analysis to identify, appraise and examine the researchers' perspectives on the substantive factors that may boost banks' role in sustainable growth and their contribution to close the present green finance gap, and therefore, reduce the uncertainty and endogenous risks that may arise from climate and environmental shocks. A total of 60 publications retrieved from the Scopus database and extending over the 2001- 2021 period were examined. In line with the study's review protocol, the main research themes in extant literature are banks' determinants of sustainability behaviour, banks' sustainability performance-financial performance association, customers and depositors' responsiveness to banks' sustainability practices, sustainable banks' risk profile, and the mandatory calibration of "green" supervision, macroprudential regulations and monetary policies to further enhance climate-resilient investments.

The fight against poverty requires a broader perspective than simply focusing on the issue of income insufficiency. Thus, adopting human development strategies is relevant to poverty alleviation because it provides an incentive to broaden the database on poverty by studying the deprivation of a human being's functioning and capabilities. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has developed the Human Development Index (HDI), considered the most comprehensive indicator. However, it is not fully compatible and sufficient to measure human development from the Islamic perspective. This study attempts to explore the Islamic Human Development Index (i-HDI) based on the five pillars of Maqasid Shari'ah; the preservation of Ad-Din (religion), An-Nafs (life), Al-Aql (intellect), Al Nasl (progeny) and Al-Mal (wealth). It also tests the effects of (i-HDI) on poverty reduction using panel regression and index construction techniques. Our results show that the humandevelopment components from an Islamic perspective are significantly relevant for poverty alleviation and are a viable alternative to the HDI. Therefore, our research gives us more information about poverty alleviation problem, which helps us to propose better solutions and plans, especially for the OIC member countries.

The financial system plays an essential role in facilitating the intermediation process for economic growth. Policymakers stress on achieving a well-developed and regulated financial system to achieve economic development and resiliency. Using data from the State of Qatar, this paper aims to examine the impact of financial development indicator on economic growth; the impact of financial development indicator on hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon sector; the impact of Islamic banking on hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon economic growth. The research uses quarterly data from 2007 to 2019 and adopts autoregressive distributed lag cointegration techniques to test the long- and short-run dynamic relationship between various measures of financial development and economic growth. The results present evidence of long-term cointegration between overall financial development indicator and economic growth. Furthermore, the authors document the existence of long-term relationship between financial development and nonhydrocarbon sector. However, there is a lack of evidence on the long run relationship between financial development and the hydrocarbon sector. Notwithstanding, Islamic banking contributes to overall economic development, as well as to the nonhydrocarbon sector. This paper offers policymakers with insights to evaluate measures to diversify the economy. It also assists decision-makers in promoting Islamic finance, particularly to the banking sector as a vital contributor to economic growth. To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first to evaluate financial development and economic growth for the case of Qatar in light of recent developments in Islamic finance.

This paper aims to analyze the return-volatility relationship of Bitcoin and Ethereum across different return frequencies and all conditional quantiles of implied volatility, based on a unique 6.5 million observations. We employ the newly constructed Model-Free Implied Volatility (MFIV) of Bitcoin (BitVol) and Ethereum (EthVol) and use an asymmetric Quantile Regression Model (QRM) to capture the intraday asymmetric return-volatility relationship at different quantiles of the distribution of the dependent variable. Our findings show that the estimated coefficient using daily data is significant only at medium- to high-volatility regimes, while the esti mated coefficients using high-frequency data are highly significant across all volatility regimes. Moreover, our results indicate that the asymmetry varies across frequencies and quantiles, with weak asymmetric effects at low quantiles and high frequencies, and strong asymmetric effects at high quantiles and low frequencies. This study provides new insight, especially for high-frequency traders.

This paper examines the relationship between trade uncertainty and bank lending using a sample of commercial banks in China and the European Union (EU) countries during the period of heightened trade uncertainty from 2017Q1 to 2021Q3 measured by the World Trade Uncertainty (WTU) index. We show that trade uncertainty slows bank credit growth. We find no significant difference in the lending response to trade uncertainty between Chinese and EU banks. Our additional analyses indicate that the credit-reducing effect of trade uncertainty is stronger for better-capitalised banks and more liquid banks. We also find that trade uncertainty is negatively associated with the growth of different bank funding sources, namely, customer deposits, liabilities, and equity. However, we do not find significant evidence that trade uncertainty affects bank credit risk.

The issue of homelessness is a worldwide problem that necessitates attention from all stakeholders. The major concerns are around inadequate legislation safeguarding the rights of the homeless and their financial ability to seek medical care. This study aims to assess the feasibility of establishing a healthcare framework specifically tailored for the homeless population in Malaysia. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with individuals aged 18 years and older who are currently residing in homeless-related facilities in Malaysia. A total of 57 participants from three distinct sites were questioned. Based on the input from these participants, this study discovered that homelessness can be attributed to a range of factors, such as unemployment, familial issues, criminal histories, and even personal choice. When questioned about their primary necessities when experiencing homelessness, the majority expressed apprehension regarding access to sustenance and housing, while a few also voiced concerns about receiving medical care. Although many individuals disregard the importance of seeking medical care, a portion of the homeless population experiences severe ailments. The report presents preventive and sustainable ways to address the issues of homelessness and suggests improvements to legislation.