Mubasher: Bank lending in Qatar recorded an all-time drop in April 2018, the lowest since September 2017, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) said on Sunday.
Loans went down 3.6% to QAR 903.89 billion in April, up from QAR 937.40 billion a month earlier, according to the QCB’s statement.
Year-on-year, Qatari banks’ credit rose 15.7% in April, compared to QAR 781.47 billion in the same period of the prior year.
The central bank attributed the monthly drop in bank lending to a fall in the public sector's loans, which went down 9.8% to QAR 333.15 billion in April from QAR 369.36 billion in the month before.
Bank credit to non-banking financial institutions operating in the world’s biggest LNG exporter decreased 0.9% to QAR 20.36 billion in the previous month versus QAR 20.56 billion in the prior month.
On the other hand, the private sector's loans declined 0.5% to QAR 550.38 billion in April from QAR. 547.48 billion in the previous month.