An increase in money supply, deposits, and loans extended by banks has been highlighted by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) in its latest review of key monetary and banking indicators.

The money supply (M3) increased slightly by BD0.8 million to reach BD16.5 billion at the end of October 2024, compared with the same period in 2023. Retail banks saw a 3.4 per cent increase in total private deposits, reaching BD14.4bn at the end of October 2024.

This follows the fifth CBB board of directors meeting for 2024 chaired by Hassan Al Jalahma yesterday.

The board reviewed the agenda items, and approved CBB’s budget for 2025.

The outstanding balance of total loans and credit facilities extended to resident economic sectors rose to BD12.1bn at the end of October 2024, a 3.9pc increase compared with the end of 2023. The business sector accounted for 42.4pc of these loans and credit facilities, while the personal sector accounted for 49pc.

Currency in circulation rose by 2.9pc to BD678.3m.

The balance sheet of the banking system (retail and wholesale banks) expanded to $248bn at the end of October 2024, an 8.1pc increase compared with the end of October 2023.

Point of sale (POS) transactions in October 2024 totalled 19.4m, a 20.4pc increase year-on-year. Of these transactions, 77.4pc were contactless. The total value of POS transactions reached BD407.2m, a 13.5pc increase, with 51.1pc of transactions being contactless.

The banking sector maintained strong capital adequacy and liquidity. The capital adequacy ratio of the banking sector reached 20.5pc in Q3 2024, compared with 19.4pc in Q3 2023.

Regarding financial soundness indicators for the third quarter of 2024, liquid assets rose by 3.2pc, specific provisioning declined by 3.1pc, non-performing loans decreased by 0.2pc compared with the same period in 2023.

As of November 2024, there were 1,737 registered Collective Investment Undertakings (CIUs), an increase from 1,659 in November 2023. The net asset value (NAV) of CIUs increased by 5pc to $11.178bn in Q2 2024, compared with $10.644bn in Q2 2023.

As of the end of October 2024, the total number of licensed institutions stood at 367. This included 83 banks, 29 retail banks, 54 wholesale banks, 15 Islamic banks, and 277 non-banking financial institutions.

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