Manama, Mar. 19 (BNA): The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Bahrain held its first meeting for the year 2023, chaired by Hassan Khalifa Al-Jalahma.
The Council reviewed the agenda, approved the annual report of the Central Bank of Bahrain, and the audited financial statements for the year 2022, in addition to reviewing the activities of the Central Bank of Bahrain for the year 2022.
The meeting reviewed the most important economic indicators for the year 2022 and noted the real economic growth during the third quarter of 2022, which amounted to 4.2% compared to the same period in 2021. The consumer price index also recorded an increase of 3.6%. in 2022 compared to 2021. As for the balance of payments, the current account surplus increased significantly from BD 978.5 million in 2021 to BD 2571.3 million in 2022.
The board also reviewed the main monetary and banking indicators for the year, including the money supply, which rose to 15.1 billion Bahraini dinars at the end of 2022, an increase of 1.7% compared to the end of 2021.
As for retail banks, total private deposits increased to 13.5 billion Bahraini dinars at the end of 2022, an increase of 4.4% compared to the end of 2021.
The balance of total loans and credit facilities granted to resident economic sectors increased to 11.3 billion Bahraini dinars at the end of 2022, an increase of 3.6% compared to the end of 2021, as the business sector accounted for 43.8% and the personal sector in 2022 accounted for 50.6% of total loans and credit facilities.
The balance sheet of the banking system (retail banks and wholesale sector banks) increased to $224.1 billion by the end of 2022, an increase of 3.0% compared to the end of 2021.
As for the first month of 2023, the money supply increased to reach 15.7 billion Bahraini dinars at the end of January 2023, an increase of 5.3% compared to the end of January 2022. As for retail banks, the total private deposits increased to 13.9 Bahraini dinars. billion at the end of January 2023, an increase of 8.0% compared to the end of January 2022.
The balance of total loans and credit facilities granted to resident economic sectors increased to 11.3 billion Bahraini dinars at the end of January 2023, an increase of 3.4% compared to the end of January 2022, as the business sector accounted for 44.2%, and the personal sector. The sector accounted for 50.5% of the total loans and credit facilities.
The balance sheet of the banking system (retail banks and wholesale sector banks) increased to $224.9 billion at the end of January 2023, an increase of 3.9% compared to the end of January 2022.
Point-of-sale (POS) data for 2022 totaled 162.8 million transactions (74.5% of which were contactless), an increase of 29.7% compared to 2021. The total value of POS transactions for 2022 was BD3.8 billion (46.7%). which were contactless), up 22.0% compared to 2021. As for the numbers for the first two months of 2023, POS data totaled 28.6 million transactions (77.0% of which were contactless), up 19.2% compared to the first two months of 2022.
The total value of POS transactions for the first two months of 2023 amounted to a total of BD 657.7 million (49.5% of which were contactless), an increase of 16.9% compared to the first two months of 2022.
The banking sector maintained a high level of capital adequacy and liquidity, as the capital adequacy ratio for the banking sector reached 19.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 18.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The capital adequacy ratio for the various banking sectors reached 21.5% for traditional retail banks, 17.6% for conventional wholesale banks, 21.8% for Islamic retail banks, and 17.0% for Islamic wholesale banks in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The total number of registered Collective Investment Undertakings (CIUs) through the end of 2022 was 1,745 CIUs, of which 211 new CIUs were registered during 2022, an increase of 63.6% compared to 2021. Net Asset Value (NAV) of CIUs increased from 10.6 billion USD in 2021 to USD 11.6 billion in 2022, reflecting an increase of 8.7%.
The net asset value of CIUs that are domiciled abroad increased from $4.7 billion in 2021 to $6.1 billion in 2022, an increase of 31.3%.
Rial