Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – 9 June 2024 – The Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) Board of Directors held its third meeting for the year 2024,
chaired by Mr. Hassan Khalifa Al Jalahma on Sunday, 9 June 2024.
The Chairman commenced the meeting by expressing his sincere thanks and gratitude on behalf of the board of directors to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for the royal trust on the appointment of the new board of directors and to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The Chairman also welcomed the newly appointed board members and wished them success and prosperity in carrying out their entrusted responsibilities. Moreover, the Chairman praised the efforts made by the former board members and extended his thanks and gratitude for their dedication during the period of their membership.
The Board then reviewed the topics on the agenda, which included the review of CBB’s performance report and developments in the financial sector for the second quarter of 2024 and CBB’s financial performance report as end of May 2024.
The Board also reviewed key monetary and banking indicators for the year including the money supply, which remained at BD 16.0 billion at the end of April 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. As for retail banks, total private deposits increased to BD13.9 billion at the end of April 2024, an increase of 0.4% compared to the end of April 2023. The outstanding balance of total loans and credit facilities extended to resident economic sectors increased to BD12.1 billion at the end of April 2024, an increase of 5.3% compared to the end of 2023, with the Business Sector accounting for 43.6% and the Personal Sector at 48.2% of total loans and credit facilities. The balance sheet of the banking system (retail banks and wholesale sector banks) increased to $239.3 billion at the end of April 2024, an increase of 10.7% compared to the end April of 2023.
Point of Sales (POS) data for April 2024 totaled 16.7 million transactions (77.0% of which were contactless), an increase of 20.1% compared to the same period in 2023. The total value of POS transactions for April 2024 totaled BD 365.1 million (53.4% of which were contactless), an increase of 12.3% compared to the same period in 2023.
The banking sector maintained a high level of capital adequacy and liquidity, as the capital adequacy ratio of the banking sector reached 21.8% in Q1 2024 compared with 19.2% in Q1 2023. The capital adequacy ratio for the various banking sectors was 32.7% for conventional retail banks, 18.2% for conventional wholesale banks, 24.2% for Islamic retail banks, and 22.0% for Islamic wholesale banks in Q1 2024.
The total number of registered Collective Investment Undertakings (CIUs) as of April 2024 stood at 1702 CIUs, a decrease of 3.35% compared to April 2023. The net asset value (NAV) of the CIUs increased from US$ 11.748 billion in Q1 2023 to US$ 11.932 billion in Q1 2024, reflecting an increase of 1.57%. Moreover, the NAV of Bahrain domiciled CIUs decreased from US$ 5.348 billion in Q1 2023 to US$ 4.586 billion in Q1 2024, reflecting a decrease of 14.25%. Furthermore, the NAV of overseas domiciled CIUs increased from US$ 6.400 billion in Q1 2023 to US$ 7.346 billion in Q1 2024, reflecting an increase of 14.78%. Additionally, the NAV of Shari’a-compliant CIUs increased from US$ 1.208 billion in Q1 2023 to US$ 1.783 billion in Q1 2024, reflecting an increase of 47.60%.
During the meeting, H.E. the Governor also presented the CBB priorities for the upcoming period to the Board members, focusing on digitalization of the Central Bank of Bahrain, growth of the financial sector and maintaining its stability, elevating the ecosystem and performance of the key supporting stakeholders in the financial sector. The Board discussed the above priorities and approved them.
