São Paulo – The secretary general of the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), Wisam Fattouh, said this Thursday (4th) in Manama, Bahrain, that the assets of Middle East and North Africa banks should reach US$ 3 trillion this year, up 13%, or US$ 400 billion, from 2012. These assets are comprised of deposits, which amount to roughly US$ 1.5 trillion, and loan portfolios, which total to US$ 1.4 billion.
Fattouh’s statements were released by the Bahrain News Agency following one of the meetings of the Arab Banking Conference, held in the Bahraini capital. According to Fattouh, Arab banks are capitalized and solid right now, unlike their European peers. He also said that of the US$ 400 billion to be added to banks’ assets, approximately US$ 100 billion will originate from deposits.
Fattouh said financial institutions in the region have not been affected by the European crisis or the Arab Spring, which overturned governments in the region, nor the recent crisis in Cyprus.
The European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will loan 10 billion euros (approximately US$ 12.8 billion) to Cyprus in the next three years. The country is experiencing a financial crisis and will use the funds to meet its debt payment obligations and prevent banks from going bankrupt.
"Financial crises are imported into the Arab region which does not export them. Thanks to their good risk-management, the Arab banks are in very good positions despite the regional and global fluctuations," said Fattouh.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
