The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has reported a notable increase in the assets of the banking sector in Arab countries, which reached $4.574 trillion at the end of 2023, up from $4.355 trillion in 2022, marking a 5% growth.
The increase in assets was primarily driven by the banking sectors in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, which together account for 58.9% of the total assets in the Arab banking sector.
The AMF’s Financial Stability Report for Arab countries revealed that UAE banks hold the largest share of the sector’s assets at 24.3%, reporting an 11% growth due to an increase in total credit and investments.
Meanwhile, the Saudi banking sector’s assets grew by 9.3%, driven by an 11.5% rise in real estate loans and credit growth in other economic sectors. Overall, the Kingdom’s banks accounted for a 23.1% share of the total banking assets of the Arab region.
Furthermore, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banking sector is projected to represent 73.1% of the total assets by the end of 2023.
