Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya swung to a net loss of 877 million liras ($336 million) in 2014 on shrinking loans and deposits. The bank, in which Turkish banking regulators seized a small stake last week over an alleged illegal share sale, had reported a net profit of 180.6 million liras in 2013. Loan loss provisions amounted to 1.45 billion liras in 2014, almost half of which came in the final quarter, the bank said. Bank Asya wrote off 943 million worth of loans in 2014. Loans and deposits contracted 24 percent and 12 percent respectively in the fourth quarter.
Bank Islami Pakistan aims to raise Rs3.5 billion ($34.8 million) via subordinated sukuk. With Basel III global banking standards being introduced around the globe, several Islamic banks have issued such capital-boosting instruments, including those in Turkey, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Last week, Bank Islami’s board of directors approved a plan to raise Tier 2 capital in tranches of Rs500m to help fund its expansion, the Karachi-based lender said in a bourse filing.
Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that foreign currency reserves will be increased up to $15 billion till December 31 this year through selling Sukuk bonds worth $500 million as IMF has also nodded to give $1.1 billion installment. Ishaq said the government would first hold roadshows and then float sukuk in the Middle East and Europe between November 21 and 24. He claimed to achieve $15 billion target till the end of this year. He said that the government would increase the size of Sukuk bond from $500 million to $1 billion after observing the investors' interest. Pakistan's foreign currency reserves stood at $13.443 billion on October 31, 2014, including $8.618 billion reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan and $4.825 billion reserves held by the commercial banks.