DOHA: Qatar banks’ loan book contracted by 1.4 percent in January 2015 compared to the month of December 2014. Deposits declined by 2.2 percent on month-on-month (MoM). Public sector pushed total credit down with a decline of 7.1 percent on MoM, while public sector deposits dropped by 5.9 percent in January. The loan book is up by 13.1 percent year-on-year (YoY).
QNB Financial Services (QNBFS) monthly banking sector update yesterday noted the public sector deposits decreased by 5.9 percent MoM for the month of January. A segment breakdown indicates, the government institutions’ segment declined by 1 percent (+4.2 percent in FY2014). Furthermore, the government segment decreased by 22.9 percent (down 13.2 percent in FY2014).
However, the semi-government institutions’ segment posted a modest growth of 4 percent (up 4.8 percent in FY2014). On the other hand, private sector deposits declined by only 0.6 percent (+14.1 percent in FY2014). On the private sector front, the companies & institutions’ segment decreased by 1.6 percent(+17.1 percent in FY2014) while the consumer segment ticked up by 0.4 percent MoM (up 11.3 percent in FY2014). Non-resident deposits grew by 4.3 percent (+43.3 percent in FY2014).
The overall loan book posted a weak performance. Total domestic public sector loans decreased by 7.1 percent (down by 2.6 percent in FY2014). The government segment’s loan book went down by 23.6 percent (up 14.5 percent YoY in FY2014). Moreover, the government institutions’ segment declined by only 0.2 percent, was down 7.9 percent YoY in FY2014. However, the semi-government institutions’ segment declined by 3.6 percent (down 7.4 percent in FY2014). Hence, all the three sub-segments pushed the overall loan book down for the month of January 2015.
Private sector loans gained by 1.0 percent (up 20.4 percent YoY in FY2014). Real Estate followed by Contractors positively contributed toward the loan growth. Real Estate increased by 1.5 percent. Contractors increased by 3.9 percent. On the other hand, Services decreased by 0.3 percent MoM.
Overall for 2014, Consumption & Others followed by General Trade and Services were the biggest contributors to the loan book growth. Consumption & Others increased by 22.2 percent in 2014. General Trade grew by 34.0 percent in 2014. Services segment grew by 21.3 percent in 2014. On the other hand, the Industry segment only witnessed a 5.7 percent YoY increase in 2014.
The Peninsula
