Wednesday, Jul 04, 2012
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Gulf banks are likely to continue their gradual recovery from the 2008 financial crisis as the level of their loan loss provisions decline further, but the pace of growth will be slow due to the global economic downturn, according a report from ratings agency Standard & Poor's.
"Even though pockets of risk persist, asset quality continues to improve, and as a result banks do not need to set aside as many provisions to cover their loan losses," the report said.
It added that the Gulf region's banks remain shielded from the euro-zone crisis and that the impact is likely to remain limited.
The lending outlook for banks in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman is healthy, but remains limited for lenders in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
However, because of the global economic uncertainty, the Gulf banks' growth over the next two years will be at a low pace, the report said.
-By Nicolas Parasie, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1681, nicolas.parasie@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-07-12 0737GMT
