Qatari banks boast highest cover against stage 3 bad loans in GCC – The Peninsula

Qatari banks boast highest cover against stage 3 bad loans in GCC – The Peninsula

Doha: Qatari banks showed the highest cover against stage 3 bad loans at 99.2 percent in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during the second quarter (Q2) of the current year, said a recent report by Kamco Invest.

The aggregate provision cover that GCC banks made against stage 3 bad loans stood at 71.7 percent at the end of Q2-2022. The provision cover has increased consistently over the last three quarters when it stood at 69.8 percent in Q1-2022 and 67.1 percent at the end of Q4-2021. “Qatari banks boasted the highest cover against stage 3 bad loans in the GCC during the quarter at 99.2 percent, higher than Q1-2022 cover of 95.9 percent. Bahraini banks were next at 70.5 percent during Q2-2022 while the ratio for the rest of the region remained below the 70 percent mark,” the report noted.

“The average share of bad loans (stage 3 loans) on GCC banks’ loan books declined slightly to 3.4 percent during Q2-2022 as compared to 3.6 percent at the end of Q1-2022 and 4.1 percent at the end of Q1-2021. Non-performing loans for UAE banks continued to remain the highest in the GCC at 5.5 percent of aggregate gross loans at the end