The Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) money supply increased by BD0.6 million to reach BD16.4 billion by the end of August this year, compared with the same period in 2023.

This was revealed as CBB board of directors reviewed key monetary and banking indicators at its fourth meeting for the year, chaired by Hassan Khalifa Al Jalahma.

The board reviewed the topics on the agenda including the bank’s performance report and developments in the financial sector for the third quarter of 2024.

Total private deposits increased to BD14.3bn at the end of August 2024, an increase of 2.9 per cent compared with the same period in 2023.

The outstanding balance of total loans and credit facilities extended to resident economic sectors increased to BD12.2bn at the end of August 2024, an increase of 5.2pc compared with the end of 2023, with the business sector accounting for 42.3pc and the personal sector 48.8pc of total loans and credit facilities.

The balance sheet of the banking system (retail banks and wholesale sector banks) increased by 8.2pc to $243.1bn.

Point of Sales (POS) data for August 2024 totalled 18.2m transactions (77.2pc of which were contactless), an increase of 18.1pc compared with the same period last year.

The total value of POS transactions for August increased by 15.7pc to BD387.7m (52.2pc of which were contactless).

The banking sector maintained a high level of capital adequacy and liquidity, as the capital adequacy ratio of the banking sector reached 20pc in the second quarter (Q2) this year compared with 19.3pc in Q2 2023.

The capital adequacy ratio for various banking sectors was 32.9pc for conventional retail banks, 16.7pc for conventional wholesale banks, 19.6pc for Islamic retail banks, and 20.8pc for Islamic wholesale banks in Q2 2024.

The total number of registered Collective Investment Undertakings (CIUs) as of August 2024 stood at 1,715, compared with 1,673 as of August 2023. The net asset value of the CIUs increased from $10.651bn in Q2 2023 to $11.178bn in Q2 2024, reflecting an increase of 4.95pc.

The net asset value of Bahrain-domiciled CIUs increased from $4.390bn in Q2 2023 to $4.428bn in Q2 2024, reflecting an increase of 0.87pc.

The net asset value of overseas-domiciled CIUs increased from $6.261bn in Q2 2023 to $6.750bn in Q2 2024, reflecting an increase of 7.81pc. Additionally, the net asset value of Sharia-compliant CIUs increased from $1.412bn in Q2 2023 to $1.812bn in Q2 2024, an increase of 28.33pc.

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