The volume of commercial banks assets (and liabilities) increased to QR1560.8bn by the end of January 2020, up QR5.8bn from December 2019 and 12.1 percent increase on year-on-year, according to Qatar Central Bank (QCB) latest data.
A detailed reading of the QCB data by Bashir Al Kahlout (pictured), Economic Consultant and Director, Al Byraq Center for Economic and Financial Studies noted the total cash and balances with Qatar Central Bank increased by QR2.29bn at the end of January 2020 compared to QR62.47bn recorded in the previous month, down 2.4 percent from January 2019 and up 37 percent in January 2018.
The credit granted by banks outside Qatar, has witnessed a significant decrease in the past two years, as it decreased from QR91.2bn in January 2018 to QR82.5bn in January 2019 and further falling to QR74.8bn in January 2020.
Balances with banks abroad decreased by about QR1.14bn in January 2020 compared to QR93.28bn recorded in the previous month. But it was in the range of QR77.7bn a year ago.
Investments abroad, have remained stable during the past two years, with limited changes, reaching QR58.7bn in January 2020.
Balances with banks in Qatar were low in the month of the blockade in June 2017 at the level of QR30.7bn, but they rose to the level of QR65.4bn in December 2019, before declining to QR55.5bn in January 2020.
Local credit now constitutes 63.2 percent of the total assets. It rose in January to QR986.1bn, compared to QR964.2bn in the previous month, QR867.2bn a year ago, and QR829.8bn recorded two years ago.
Domestic investments, decreased to QR182.4bn in January from about QR185.1bn in December 2019, but it is higher than QR163.9bn a year ago.
And in exchange for the assets of the banks, in return they have liabilities equal to the total, and those liabilities increased in January 2020 to the level of QR1560.8bn. The balances for external banks decreased in January 2020 to QR263.1bn from QR273.5bn last December, but it was higher than QR224.9bn a year ago, and QR196.6bn two years ago.
Deposits of non-residents continued to increase, reaching in January to QR215bn from QR208.2bn in December, QR161.6bn a year ago and QR137bn two years ago.
Securities receivable settled in January at around QR61.6bn, unchanged from December, but a year ago it was in the range of QR52.7bn.
Resident deposits: (Qatari and non-Qatari) increased in January by about QR17bn from December to reach the level of QR657.9bn, compared to QR640.9bn in December, and QR628.1bn a year ago, and QR666.1bn two years ago.
Bank capital accounts grew steadily, reaching QR155.9bn in January, from QR145.9bn a year ago.
Balances with banks in Qatar amounted to about QR55.3bn in January, compared to QR63.2bn in December 2019, and QR37.3bn a year ago, and QR36.1bn two years ago.
Balances of Qatar Central Bank with banks increased to QR17.5bn in January from QR14bn in December, but it was QR36.4bn a year ago.
The QCB data showed that the wide money supply (M2) increased in December by about QR13.8bn from the previous month to reach QR591.8bn.
