By: Bedour Al Raee

Mubasher: Assets of banks operating in the GCC increased by 9.13% year-on-year during the first half of 2019.

Total assets recorded $2.19 trillion in H1-19, compared to $2.01 trillion in H1-18, according to Mubasher statistics.

The UAE banks have topped the GCC’s peers in terms of assets acquiring 32.5% of the total, followed by Saudi Arabia with 28.35%.

Assets of Emirati banks amounted to $714 billion during the first six months of 2019, from $622.8 billion in the same period of the previous year, statistics showed.

The First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) topped the Emirati banks’ list with $211 billion, followed by Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) with $130 billion and $74 billion, respectively.

The Saudi Arabia-based banks came in second place with total assets worth $621.75 billion during the six-month period between January and June, versus $572.3 billion in the same period a year ago.

The National Commercial Bank (NCB) topped the list recording $127.6 billion, followed by Al Rajhi Bank with $98.5 billion.

As for Qatari banks’ assets, they represented 19.2% of the total assets of banks across the GCC region.

Assets of Qatar-based banks increased by $17.62 billion to $421.3 billion in H1-19, against $403.68 billion by the end of June 2018.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has ranked the first in the GCC nations with total assets of $243.43 billion.

However, Kuwait ranked fourth place acquiring 13.8% of total assets, recording $302.73 billion by the end of June.

Moreover, assets of banks operating in Oman and Bahrain levelled up to $76.4 billion and $57 billion.

Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed Hussein