Mubasher: Loans provided by commercial banks operating in Qatar posted a 3.12% year-on-year growth in January, according to the monthly monetary bulletin released by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB).
Total loans provided in the GCC nation amounted to QAR 949.67 billion ($260.90 billion) last January, compared to QAR 920.97 billion ($253.02 billion) in the corresponding month a year earlier.
The lending growth was supported by the 4.5% increase in local credit which rose to QAR 867.16 billion in January, from QAR 829.79 billion in the same month a year earlier, while foreign credit tumbled 9.5% year-on-year to QAR 82.51 billion.
The annual increase was also encouraged by the 10.9% hike in loans provided to the private sector which climbed to QAR 590.98 billion in January, from QAR 532.69 billion in the prior-year period.
On the other hand, loans provided to the public sector retreated 6.5% to QAR 343.65 billion last January, from QAR 367.55 billion a year earlier.
Loans offered to non-banking financial institutions plunged 27.4% year-on-year to QAR 15.05 billion, versus QAR 20.73 billion in January 2018.
Month-on-month, loans provided by commercial banks rose 0.98% to QAR 949.67 billion, against QAR 940.43 billion in December 2018.
