Islami
Bank Bangladesh Ltd
Corporate
Report
Islami
Bank Bangladesh Limited introduced unconventional way of banking business
in the country. It started its operation in 1983 and ended the initial
year of operation with a total deposit of Tk 14.41 crore. The deposit
amount rose to Tk 3533.44 crore on June 30, 2001 registering a substantial
growth.
The
investment portfolio of the bank is extended at 2.50 per cent for
agriculture and rural investment, 18 per cent for industrial term
investment, 13 per cent for industrial working capital, 10 per cent for
housing and real estate, 4 per cent for transport and communication, 0.05
per cent for electricity, gas, water and sanitation services, 2 per cent
for storage, 43 per cent for import, export and local trade and trade
related activities, 1 'per cent for poultry and dairy, 2 percent for rural
development scheme, 2.50 per cent for other special schemes, 0.50 per cent
for micro-industry and one per cent for other productive purposes.
The
overall recovery rate of the bank is 93 per cent. Islami Bank has
introduced small business schemes micro industries finance, under the bank
finances projects with limit upto Tk 30,000.
Islami
Bank functions in a market where interest based conventional form of
banking covers about 90 per cent of the banking sector. Islami Bank works
with the concept of interest-free banking and it has proved that the new
banking with interest free concept could be successful and expanded in the
country.
The
Bank introduced projects like Rural Development Scheme, an investment
project that conforms to social responsibility for the downtrodden in
rural areas as its prime priority. The Rural Development Scheme has been
designed to help improve the living standard of people, particularly the
women in rural areas. The Rural Development Scheme is an unprecedented
success in social upliftment by means of empowering the downtrodden
through economic emancipation. The bank uses depositors' funds in
interest-free ways in rural areas where downtrodden people are susceptible
to several evil designs of interest groups.
About
86 thousand people in rural areas, 90 per cent of whom are women, are now
being covered under the Rural Development Project. Among them, about 72
thousand have already fully adjusted the disbusred fund. The recovery rate
is about 99.7 per cent. The bank disburses Tk 3000-15,000 under the
project per person. More than Tk 90 crore have been disbursed so far under
the Rural Development Scheme. The project is now being operated in about
2200 villages in 45 districts through 21 branches.
The
bank is planning to open some new branches in rural areas to add further
pace to its Rural Development Scheme. The scheme allows investment in
production of 21 various agro and agro-related products, food, cereal and
cash crops, off-farm activities like dairy, cow fattening, goat rearing,
poultry, shopkeeping, peddling, rural transport like, rickshaw,
rickshaw-van, cart etc, irrigation equipment, hand tube-well, housing
materials etc.
The
bank has a subsidiary, the Islami Bank Foundation. The Foundation is
engaged in social welfare activities, side by side taking care of the
requirement of sanitation, medicare and education of the villages through
integrated area development approach.
The
other schemes of the bank include housing investment scheme, car
investments, investment for doctors, small business schemes, agriculture
implements investment scheme, silk weavers investment schemes, micro
industries investment scheme etc.
The
bank is determined to practice Islamic banking which is an alternative to
conventional banking. It prefers investing in productive initiatives by
best utilisation of people's savings. But Murabaha, title being pledged
with the bank and Bai Muazzal, title being pledged with the client under
hypothecation are the two major modes of Islamic banking. About 41 percent
and 21 per cent of the Islami Bank's total investment portfolio are
ivnested in those modes respectively.
The
bank achieved successes in mobilising deposits and distributing profits.
The management of the bank maintains that there is still tremendous
potential of expanding Islamic Banking in the country. It has already
established that banking without interest is feasible in the country. The
bank now expects to contribute to the development of an Islamic Money
Market in the country.
Source
: The New Nation
