ZALLAQ: The Central Bank Governor, Rasheed Al Maraj highlighted the salient features of the new rules restricting the scope of yearly hefty bonuses for bankers.
Al Maraj, who participated in an open Town Hall, addressed the issues of bonus regulation for senior bankers, the policy of the CBB towards systemic risk and the impact of digitisation on banking.
Speaking about Bahrain’s banking sector, on the sidelines of the 4th Euromoney Forum, he said the rapid decline in the oil prices has had no impact banks’ liquidity and hoped the commercial banks’ lending to pick up after a relative slow down.
He said although overall lending might have dropped because of repayment cycle, however, there was underlying growth in consumer lending and some corporates were still performing well.
The 4th Euromoney GCC Financial Forum, co-hosted by Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) kicked off today on a high note at Zallaq Thalassa Sea and Spa, Kingdom of Bahrain, with an interactive format to encourage delegate participation.
He was of the view that many mega projects would be coming up in Bahrain in near future and lending will start picking up.
The CBB Chief said it was difficult to predict what will happen under the circumstances.
Al Maraj said there were too many banks in Bahrain and the CBB had been encouraging mergers and consolidation for several years and he said Bahrain needs bigger banks.
About sovereign sukuk he said the government has no plans to issue sovereign at this stage and would wait until the new state budget had been approved.
The inaugural speeches were delivered by Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist, EDB and Richard Banks, Euromoney Director of Emerging Markets.
More than 500 leading international and regional financial experts from finance, investment, government, regulatory organisations, businesses and members of the media from 22 countries attended the event.
“The long term reforms that Bahrain has put in place over the preceding decades have put the Kingdom in a strong place to address the challenges that the region faces today,” Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), said.
“This is because of the growing strength of the non-oil sector growth drivers which include: Robust population growth; the changing makeup of the economy; the greater integration of the GCC in global trade and tourism flows; and, the development of the regional financial services sector.”
“I have been visiting the Gulf region for over 35 years and the Euromoney GCC conference is the largest, most diverse group of financial experts I have yet encountered. It is the right mix of central bankers, development officials, investment bankers, portfolio managers and business professionals. The best conferences are the ones that don’t just include speeches but also make news. This conference is truly newsworthy with provocative comments about rethinking the role of the GCC peg to the dollar and the volatile price of oil. I’m honoured to be part of such a high profile group,” James Rickards, leading Chief Global Strategist, West Shore Funds and acclaimed author, said.
Keynote interviewees on Day 1 also included Abdul Razak Al Qassim, CEO of NBB; Abdulkarim Bucheery, CEO BBK, and Dr. Ahmed Al Mutawa, Chairman GFH. There we also three further Panel sessions on the Macro-Mini Regional Picture, Private Capital and Public Projects, and Regional Finance in the Global Marketplace.
This year the forum was supported by the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) and The Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding), Gulf Finance House, as Islamic Banking Partner, Mumtalakat, Bahrain Bourse and Bahrain Development Bank as co-sponsors, Tamkeen as the strategic Partner; Baker & McKenzie and CITI as exhibitors; BNP Paribas and Sico Investment Bank and Standard Chartered as supporting organisations.