The Qatari banking sector's total assets moved up 0.3% MoM (down 2.3% in 2023) in February to reach QR1.862tn, QNB Financial Services said in a report.
The sector’s liquid assets to total assets was at 30.3% in February, compared to 30.2% in January this year.
The total loan book edged up by 0.1% MoM (down 0.7% in 2023) and deposits declined by 1.0% MoM (-4.9% in 2023) in February.
Deposits declined by 1.0% during February to QR950.2bn, mainly due to a 6.4% fall in non-resident deposits, QNBFS said.
Loans edged up 0.1% during February to reach QR1,246.7bn, mainly due to gains both in the private (0.1%) and public (0.3%) sectors.
Loans have declined by 0.7% in 2023, compared to a growth of 3.3% in 2022. Loans grew by an average 6.7% over the past five years (2018-2022), QNBFS said.
The banking sector's loan provisions to gross loans was at 3.6% in February, similar to that of January this year.
Both the private and public sectors pushed the overall credit higher. As deposits fell by 1% in February, the loans to deposits (LDR) rose to 131.2% compared to 129.6% in January.
The overall loan book went up by 0.1% in February. Domestic private sector loans moved up by 0.1% MoM (+0.2% in 2023) in February 2023. The real estate segment was the main contributor towards the private sector loan gain.
The real estate segment (contributes 23% to private sector loans) moved higher by 2.0% MoM (+1.7% in 2023), while general trade (contributes 21% to private sector loans) moved up by 0.1% MoM (+0.8% in 2023).
However, consumption and others (contributes 20% to private sector loans) went down by 0.9% MoM (-0.6% in 2023), while services (contributes 29% to private sector loans) was lower by 0.2% MoM (-0.6% in 2023) in February.
Total public sector loans increased by 0.3% MoM (-2.8% in 2023). The government institutions segment (represents 67% of public sector loans) loan book gained 0.4% MoM (+1.5% in 2023), while the government segment (represents 28% of public sector loans) added 0.3% MoM (-12.1% in 2023).
However, the semi-government institutions segment declined by 1.2% MoM (-0.6% in 2023). Outside Qatar loans contracted by 0.8% MoM (-0.2% in 2023) in February, QNBFS said.
Private sector deposits declined by 0.8% MoM (-1.1% in 2023) in February 2023. On the private sector front, the companies and institutions segment dropped by 2.8% MoM (-4.1% in 2023). However, the consumer segment increased by 1.1% MoM (+1.9% in 2023) during February 2023.
Public sector deposits increased by 1.8% MoM (-7.7% in 2023) for the month of February 2023. The government institutions segment (represents 59% of public sector deposits) moved up 3.6% MoM (-2.6% in 2023), while the government segment (represents 27% of public sector deposits) went up by 3.4% MoM (-18.5% in 2023).
However, the semi-government institutions’ segment fell by 7.2% MoM (-4.7% in 2023) in February 2023, QNBFS said.
An analyst told Gulf Times yesterday that the “overall decline in the deposits by 1.0% in February 2023 is mainly due to the 6.4% drop in non-resident deposits. With higher energy prices and improved local liquidity situation, there is less reliance on non-resident deposits and optimisation in funding sources for banks”.