Total assets of all the commercial banks (all branches inside Qatar) grew by a healthy 10.6% year-on-year to QR1.32tn in October 2017.
Total credit portfolio, which constituted 69% of the banking sector’s overall assets, grew 13% year-on-year to QR912.94bn, mainly on the back of robust loans to the government and industry, the QCB data showed.
Of the QR912.94bn credit, loans to the private sector amounted QR529.79bn and public sector at QR361.49bn at the end of October 2017.
Domestic credit witnessed about 15% growth to QR819.76bn with loans to the government expanding 61% to QR177.41bn and industry by more than 27% to QR31.06bn.
The credit off-take by the real estate sector, which alone constituted about 23% of the total domestic credit, grew 8.92% to QR186.78bn.
Loans to the services sector, which has a 21% share in the total domestic credit, rose 2.9% to QR176.12bn, of which general services’ share was QR155.32bn and financial services stood at QR20.8bn.
Consumption loans grew 7.56% year-on-year to QR123.91bn, those to the contracting sector saw a 4.58% expansion to QR42.43bn and trading by a marginal 1% to QR71.16bn in October this year.
Of the QR31.06bn credit off-take by the industry in October this year, as much as QR11.18bn went towards industrial manufacturing, QR8.1bn to heavy industries, QR9.44bn to natural gas and QR2.35bn to oil.
On the asset side, the banks’ securities portfolio saw a 13.6% growth year-on-year to QR179.5bn, of which debt amounted to QR107.57bn, followed by sukuk at QR66.3bn, equities at QR3.85bn and mutual funds and others at QR1.78bn.
The debt securities issued by the government amounted to QR88.43bn, banks QR13.12bn and others QR6.03bn; while the sukuk issued by the sovereign was QR62.57bn, banks QR2.24bn and others QR1.49bn in the review period.
The commercial banks’ investments in subsidiaries/associates witnessed a 2.86% rise year-on-year to QR46.33bn (QR33.38bn in subsidiaries and QR12.94bn in associates) in October this year.
The claims on the central bank saw more than a 10% expansion year-on-year to QR40.58bn, which included required reserves of QR36.2bn. The required reserves reported about 13% growth on a yearly basis this October.
However, the claims on banks saw a more than 10% year-on-year decline to QR101.13bn in October this year.
Under the cash and precious metals segment, the banking sector saw a robust more than 42% surge year-on-year to QR8.62bn.
The banking industry’s net fixed assets saw more than 29% growth year-on-year to QR6.95bn in October 2017. The sector’s investments in the real estate sector plummeted about 43% to QR0.94bn, which included overseas investments of QR0.52bn.
The commercial banks' other assets (which comprised derivatives and intangibles) were valued at QR21.68bn at the end of October 2017 compared to QR18.99bn in the corresponding period of 2016.
Business / Business
Qatar banks witness double-digit growth in total assets despite siege
Total assets of all the commercial banks (all branches inside Qatar) grew by a healthy 10.6% year-on-year to QR1.32tn in October 2017, according to QCB data. PICTURE: Nasar TK
Unperturbed by the economic blockade, Doha's banking industry witnessed a double-digit year-on-year expansion in total assets in October mainly on the back of robust credit off-take and securities portfolio, according to the Qatar Central Bank data.
