NICOSIA, 25 January 2003 — The financial performance of Saudi banks has been good, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The success has been partly due to the system’s focus on high-margin retail, consumer lending and low-cost deposits, says a new report on the Saudi banking system released yesterday.
The rating agency says that banks are strengthening their domestic business franchises and making them more defensible against outside competition.
Mardig Haladjian, Moody’s senior vice president and author of the report, expects retail banking spreads to gradually reduce as competition intensifies, retail lending books mature and provisioning needs grow. (DPA)
