Commercial banks in Qatar see 1.8% loan growth in May

Satyendra Pathak Doha The overall loan book of commercial banks in Qatar went up by 1.8 percent to reach QR1.2 trillion in May this year compared to the ...

Satyendra Pathak Doha The overall loan book of commercial banks in Qatar went up by 1.8 percent to reach QR1.2 trillion in May this year compared to the previous month, QNB Financial Services (QNBFS) has said in its Qatar Monthly Key Banking Indicators report released on Thursday.According to the report, the increase in loans in May was mainly due to a rise of 3.1 percent in private sector loans. “Private sector loans gained by 3.1 percent month-on-month and are up 4.6 percent year-to-date. Services followed by general trade and others positively contributed towards the loan growth. On the other hand, consumption and others pulled credit growth down in the month of May 2021,” the report said.“Services sector that contributes 26 percent to private sector loans increased by 3.3 percent month-on-month. General trade contributing 21 percent to private sector loans increased by 5.5 percent month-on-month and 5.8 percent year-to-date. Real Estate that contributes 22 percent to private sector loans increased by 3.1 percent month-on-month. However, consumption and other segments that contribute 23 percent to private sector loans declined by 1.2 percent month-on-month and 4.4 percent year-to-date. The industry segment went up by 22 percent,” the report said.Total domestic public sector loans in May 2021 increased by 0.7 percent month-on-month and 13.5 percent year-to-date. The government segment’s loan book went up by 2.7 percent month-on-month and 29 percent since the start of 2021.Moreover, the government institutions’ segment that represents 52 percent of public sector loans went up by 0.2 percent month-on-month and 5.2 percent year-to-date, while the semi-government institutions’ segment moved down by 11.9 percent month-on-month and 11 percent year-to-date.Overall, the report said, loans grew by 6.7 percent since the start of 2021 compared to a growth of 8.6 percent in 2020. Loans grew by an average of 8.5 percent over the past five years (2016-2020), it said.Commercial banks deposits increased by 2 percent month-on-month and 6.3 percent year-to-date in May 2021 to reach QR962.2 billion, the report said.Deposit growth in May 2021 was mainly due to an increase in public sector deposits by 9 percent. On the other hand, the report said, private sector deposits declined by 0.8 percent month-on-month and increased 0.1 percent year-to-date. On the private sector front, the consumer segment posted a loss of 0.9 percent month-on-month and went up 2.2 percent year-to-date, while the companies and institutions’ segment declined by 0.8 percent month-on-month and went down by 2.4 percent year-to-date. Non-resident deposits declined by 0.6 percent month-on-month and increased 13.5 percent year-to-date. Looking at segment details, the government institutions’ segment that represents 58 percent of public sector deposits went up by 12.1 percent month-on-month and 6.3 percent year-to-date. However, the semi-government institutions’ segment posted a drop of 1.4 percent month-on-month and a decline of 2.9 percent year-to-date. Loans to deposits ratio went down marginally to 125.2 percent in May 2021, the report said.