MANAMA: In the background of healthy indicators in the banking and financial sector, the percentage of non-performing loans (NPLs) is still very high in Bahrain, according to BAB-BIBF Banking Review 2014.
“Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) peaked at 5.63 percent in 2012 and, while the 5.10 percent recorded in 2013 is an improvement, it still indicates that there is a long way to go to meet rates below two percent before the global financial crisis,” the review suggested.
Bahrain currently hosts 404 financial institutions of which 116 are banks. Of these 29 are retail banks and 76 in the wholesale sector. In total 34 are considered to be domestic banks. This compares with the 42 at the beginning of 2013 and reflects the efforts of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to encourage banks to consolidate their activities, switch licence categories and in some cases to cease operations.