MANAMA, 12 November 2007 — Loan portfolio continued to rise during the third quarter with total outstanding loans extended to residents by retail banks increasing by BD423.8 million or 12.3 percent, to BD3.87 billion at end-September 2007 compared with BD3.45 billion at end-June 2007, the quarterly statistics issued by Central Banks of Bahrain said.
The 58.5 percent of loans were in the form of business lending, 36.4 percent personal and 5.1 percent government loans.
Money supply increased by BD321.7 million or 6.7 percent to reach BD5 billion at end-September 2007.
The consolidated balance sheet of the banking system in Bahrain, comprised of retail and wholesale banks, increased by $9.7 billion or 4.6 percent to reach $222.4 billion at end-September 2007, compared with $212.7 billion at end-June 2007. Compared with end-September 2006, the consolidated balance sheet of the banking system increased by 32.1 percent.
Total domestic assets amounted to $34.7 billion at end-third quarter compared with $31.2 billion at end second quarter, an increase of $3.5 billion or 11.2 percent.
Foreign assets increased by $6.2 billion or 3.4 percent to reach $187.7 billion at end-September 2007, compared with $181.5 billion at end-June 2007.
The net foreign assets increased by $1.3 billion or 18.1 percent to reach $8.5 billion, compared with $7.2 billion at end-June 2007.
Total domestic liabilities amounted to $43.2 billion at end-September 2007 compared with $38.4 billion at end-June 2007, an increase of $4.8 billion or 12.5 percent.
Foreign liabilities increased by $4.9 billion or 2.8 percent to reach $179.2 billion at end-September 2007, compared with $174.3 billion at end-June 2007.
The consolidated balance sheet of the retail banks increased by BD1110.2 million, or by 7 percent to reach BD16938.3 million at end-September 2007, compared with BD15828.1 million at end-June 2007. Compared with end-September 2006, the consolidated balance sheet of the retail banks increased by 125.3 percent.
Total domestic assets increased by BD992.5 million or 15.9 percent at end-September 2007 to reach BD7.23 billion.
Foreign assets increased by BD117.7 million or 1.2 percent to reach BD9.71 billion at end-September 2007, compared with BD9.59 billion at end-June 2007. Claims on banks increased by BD673.7 million or 14.8 percent and on non-banks decreased by BD556 million or 11.1 percent.
Domestic deposits increased by BD391.3 million or 7.4 percent from BD5288.5 million at end-June 2007 to BD5.67 billion at end-September 2007. This was due to an increase in private sector deposits by BD320 million or 7.1 percent and government deposits by BD71.3 million or 8.9 percent.
Domestic deposits denominated in Bahraini dinars increased to BD3496.7 million, representing 61.6 percent of total domestic deposits. Foreign currencies increased to BD2183.1 million, representing 38.4 percent of total domestic deposits.
Consolidated balance sheet of the wholesale banks increased by $6.8 billion or 4 percent to reach $177.4 billion at end-September 2007, compared with $170.6 billion at end-June 2007. Compared with end-September 2006, the consolidated balance sheet of wholesale banks increased by 19.5 percent.