Gulf bank deposits total SR 3.49 trillion in Q1

Bank deposits in the Gulf region totaled SR 3.49 trillion ($ 930.9 billion) at the end of the first quarter of the year, a study has revealed.
"Banks in the UAE had SR 1.11 trillion ($ 294.9 billion) deposits accounting for 32 percent of the deposits followed by Saudi banks with SR 1.08 trillion ($ 287.8 billion) deposits during the first quarter of the current year," a report prepared by the Al-Eqtisadiah business daily on the deposits and loans in the listed banks in the Gulf region published yesterday said.
While the banks in Qatar had deposits worth SR 482.39 billion ($ 128.6 billion) representing 14 percent of the total deposits, Kuwait occupied a fourth with SR 441.83 billion ($ 117.5 billion) accounting for 13 percent of all deposits. Oman has the lowest amount of deposits with SR 134.36 billion ($ 35.8 billion,) accounting for 4 percent of the total deposits while the penultimate fifth position went to Bahraini banks with SR 248.05 billion ($ 66.1 billion) representing 7 percent of the total deposits, the study said.
The number of listed banks in the Gulf region is put at 61. Out of the 20 banks in the UAE, 13 are listed in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and seven banks in the Dubai Financial Market. While Saudi Arabia has 11 listed banks, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait each has eight banks and Oman has six banks.
The study also identified Qatar National Bank as the largest bank in the Gulf region with $ 76.9 billion deposits accounting for 8 percent of the total deposits in the region. The Saudi Al-Rajhi Bank got a second place with $ 61.9 billion deposits claiming a 7 percent share of the total deposits while National Bank of Dubai was closely behind with $ 60.7 billion. Abu Dhabi National Bank was at the fourth place with $ 56 billion accounting for 6 percent of the total deposits. With $ 1.1 billion, the Ajman Bank came at the fifth place followed by the Emirates Investment Bank with $ 255 million while the United Gulf Bank in Bahrain came at the last position with $ 60 million.
The report found that the Gulf banks provided financing or credits worth SR 3.05 trillion ($ 812.4 billion) during the first quarter of the year. While UAE banks had a share of SR 968.67 billion ($ 258.3 million) loans accounting for 32 percent of the total loans, Saudi banks provided loans worth SR 877.11 billion ($ 233.8 million) accounting for 29 percent of the total loans during the period. The third place went to Qatari banks with SR 484.89 billion ($ 128.3 billion) accounting for 16 percent, followed by Kuwaiti banks at the fourth place with SR 396.95 billion ($ 105.5 billion) taking up 16 percent of the total loans. The fifth place is taken by Bahraini banks with SR 197.96 billion ($ 52.8 billion) accounting for 6 percent and Omani banks took the last place with SR 122.27 billion ($ 32.6 billion) accounting for 4 percent of the total bank loans.
In terms of financing provided by individual banks, Qatar National Bank had the first place with $ 71.1 billion accounting for 9 percent of the total financing followed by Emirates National Bank of Dubai, which had a share of 6 percent with $ 51.4 billion. Next came the Al-Rajhi Bank with $ 48.1 billion accounting for nearly 6 percent. The Abu Dhabi National Bank had the fourth position with $ 44.2 billion claiming 5 percent of the total loans during the period. The Ajman Bank supplied $ 1.3 billion worth of loans. The report showed that the Emirates Investment Bank provided the least amount of loans with close to $ 500,000 while the United Gulf Bank in Bahrain extended loans to the tune of $ 4 billion.
While Al-Rajhi was at the top of Saudi banks in terms of providing loans and receiving deposits, Bank Albilad was the lowest in that respect in the Kingdom. In the UAE, while Emirates NBD was the highest in receiving deposits and offering loans, the Emirates Investment Bank was the lowest. In Kuwait, the top position was for the Kuwait National Bank and the last position went to the Kuwait International Bank.
While the Qatar National Bank was at the top to attract deposits and providing loans, Gulf Commercial Bank was at the bottom of the list.
The United National Bank was at the leading in Bahrain, while the United Gulf Bank was at the opposite end. In Oman, Muscat Bank was at the top in terms of deposits and financing and the Omani National Bank at the bottom, the study said.