The volume of combined assets of the Jordanian banking sector reached $70.4 billion by the end of the second quarter of 2018, registering a 1.7 per cent growth compared to the end of 2017, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks Wissam Fattouh said.
Such figures make the Jordanian banking sector the most secure in the Arab region, Fattouh added in a statement that was cited by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Based on an analytical study by the union, deposits amounted to $47.1 billion, marking a 1.5 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, he added.
As for credit facilities granted to the public and private sectors, the secretary general said that they reached some $48.2 billion, registering a 4.2 per cent growth, compared to the end of 2017.
Regarding sources of deposits, the private sector’s constituted some 92 per cent of the total volume by the end of June, 2018, while 68 per cent of loans were granted to resident private sector, Fattouh pointed out.
The banks’ combined capital, reserves and allocations totalled $10.6 billion by the end of the January-June period of 2018, marking a slight decrease by 0.8 per cent, when compared with the end of 2017, he added.
The assets of the Jordanian banking sector constituted some 171 per cent of the volume of the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2017, while deposits amounted to 115 per cent of the GDP. Loans, moreover, formed 114 per cent of the GDP, which “reflects the relative importance of the sector,” according to the banker.
The Jordanian banking sector ranked 13th among Arab peers in terms of assets volume, amounting to 2 per cent of the total assets of the Arab banking sector, he noted.
