Islamic Bank of Thailand

Summary

The Islamic Bank of Thailand (iBank) is a state enterprise established in 2002 that operates according to the principles of Sharia as practised in Islamic banking, and serves all customers regardless of religion. ¹

Ownership

The Ministry of Finance holds 48.54%, the Government Savings Bank 39.81% and Krung Thai Bank 9.83%; the ministry's direct stake is capped at 49%, but with the other state banks the government controls over 98% of its shares. ¹

Course

It was set up under the Islamic Bank of Thailand Act 2002 and began operating in 2003; in November 2005 it acquired Krung Thai Bank's Shariah banking services, raising its branches from 18 to 27. ¹

Losses and bailout

In 2014 it reported a net loss of 9.5 billion baht. ¹ The Finance Ministry injected almost 20 billion baht to raise its capital after its non-performing loans reached 50 billion baht, half its portfolio; critics saw this as evidence of weak management at state-run financial institutions. ¹

References

English Wikipedia, "Islamic Bank of Thailand", revision 1370106049. ¹

Islamic banks and conventional banks — the difference, the doubts and the performance

The two 'Al-Wasatiyya' episodes on Islamic banks. In the first, 56% of the studio audience said they could not define riba, 79% that they knew nothing of the murabaha, mudaraba, tawarruq and salam contracts, and they split into thirds on whether Islamic banks are free of doubt; in the second, 65% chose to buy by murabaha from an Islamic bank, 57% thought abolishing riba impossible while the world economy runs on interest, and 49% judged Islamic banks' social role weaker. The guests agreed that conventional bank interest is riba and differed over the existing Islamic banks.

Islamic Bank of Thailand

At a glance

In the Modern Islam Browser

Footprint

Summary

Ownership

Course

Losses and bailout

References

People and things also explored

Sources

Made

Islamic banks and conventional banks — the difference, the doubts and the performance