Gulf Cooperation Council banking sectors' loans will grow by nine to 9.5 percent in the current year, with a varying growth rates among member states, Kuwait Finance House ( KFH ) forecasted. In a report released by its Research unit Friday, KFH attributed the remarkable growth in loans to several positive factors, notably the strong growth in GCC gross domestic product, the huge government spending to stimulate the economy, growing role of banks in financing development projects. Data showed that the loans of the GCC banking sectors have blossomed in June 2012 by 14.7 percent, but with different rates among member states. Qatari banking sector's achieved the highest rise in loans, with a 35. 9-percent hike, followed by Saudi one with 15.1 percent. Kuwaiti was ranked third with a 4.4 percent-growth, the highest rise for loans of Kuwaiti banking sector in two years. The KFH also revealed that the total deposits in the GCC banks have soared by 7.2 percent in June. Figures also showed that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatari and Kuwaiti banking sectors have witnessed a 14.7 percent year-on-year growth in loans by the end of June, slightly down compared with 15.3 percent recorded a month earlier. The credit growth in Saudi Arabia rose by 15.1 percent year-on-year in June vis-?-vis 14.6 percent in May, the second largest growth in the GCC after Qatar. It unveiled that the total outstanding loans in Saudi Arabia increased from 806.1 billion Saudi riyals in May to 927.8 billion Saudi riyals in June. Moreover, the report pointed out that the Kuwait banking loans grew by 4.4 percent year-on-year by the end of June, against 3.9 percent y-o-y in May, the biggest growth over two years. The gradual improvement in the operating environment and economic activities have pushed credit to inflate to KD 26.4 billion in June, compared with KD 25.2 billion a year earlier. The report also highlighted a growth in deposits and liquidity in the banking sectors of the GCC states. The total deposits in the GCC banking jumped by 7.2 percent y-o-y in June, with a very narrow margin of that recorded in May 7.3 percent. It disclosed that the deposits in Saudi Arabia rose by 10.1 percent y-o-y in June against 7.6 percent in May. In Kuwait deposits soared by 13.6 percent y-o-y in June vis-a-vis 10.4 percent, a month earlier. The report forecasted that 2012 provides opportunities for GCC banks to enhance lending activities due to the expected remarkable growth for the GCC economies. Zawya
