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Arab Banks Maintain Capital Adequacy at Minimum Levels

The meeting of the governors of Arab central banks and monetary institutions kicked off in Jeddah on Sunday. (Photo: Ghazi Mahdi)
The meeting of the governors of Arab central banks and monetary institutions kicked off in Jeddah on Sunday. (Photo: Ghazi Mahdi)
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Arab Banks Maintain Capital Adequacy at Minimum Levels

The meeting of the governors of Arab central banks and monetary institutions kicked off in Jeddah on Sunday. (Photo: Ghazi Mahdi)
The meeting of the governors of Arab central banks and monetary institutions kicked off in Jeddah on Sunday. (Photo: Ghazi Mahdi)

Governors of Arab central banks and monetary institutions announced that central banks in the region have maintained capital and liquidity adequacy above the minimum limits established in the Basel Agreement, noting that the total debt in the sector exceeded $756 billion.

For his part, the Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, Dr. Fahd Al-Mubarak, said that inflation levels in his country were still within reasonable levels, pointing to the strength of the Saudi economy in light of the current challenges.

Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)

Al-Mubarak said that estimates for the second quarter of 2022 point to a real GDP growth of 11.8 percent on an annual basis, adding that inflation levels in the Kingdom were still within acceptable rates, registering an annual increase of 3 percent in July 2022.

Regarding the labor sector, Al-Mubarak said that the general unemployment rate continued to decline to 6.0 percent in the first quarter of 2022, while the unemployment rate for Saudis also decreased, reaching 10.1 percent in the same period.

An important phase

Addressing the 46th session of the Board of Governors of Central Banks and Arab Monetary Institutions, Al-Mubarak said that the latest expectations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated a slowdown in the pace of global economic growth in 2022 to reach 3.2 percent, compared to the Fund’s expectations last April of 3.6 percent.

This was mainly due to changes in interest rates, high inflation and fluctuations in the global economy, as well as the challenges faced by emerging economies, according to the governor of SAMA.

He underlined the need for Arab countries to study all possible measures to address these challenges, coordinate efforts, and implement economic plans and reforms to achieve economic sustainability.

Capital adequacy

In a related context, the central banks in the Arab region have maintained capital adequacy, above the minimum limits established by the Basel decisions, according to Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Hamidy, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund.

Al-Hamidy added that the average capital adequacy ratio for the banking sector in the Arab countries amounted to about 17.8 percent by the end of 2021, while the ratio of liquid assets to the total assets of this sector reached about 32.7 percent at during the same period.

Growth of economies

Al-Hamidy said that Arab economies were expected to register a 5.4 percent growth, compared to 3.5 percent recorded in 2021.

He also expected that the inflation rate in the Arab countries as a group would reach 7.6 and 7.1 in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

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China Launches Late Stimulus Push to Meet 2024 Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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China Launches Late Stimulus Push to Meet 2024 Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker works on a building under construction in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD), China July 14, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

China's central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system as Beijing assembled a last-ditch stimulus assault to pull economic growth back towards this year's roughly 5% target, Reuters reported.
More fiscal measures are expected to be announced before China's week-long holidays starting on Oct. 1, after a meeting of the Communist Party's top leaders showed an increased sense of urgency about mounting economic headwinds.
On the heels of the Politburo huddle, China plans to issue special sovereign bonds worth about 2 trillion yuan ($284.43 billion) this year as part of fresh fiscal stimulus, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
Capital Economics chief Asia Economist Mark Williams estimates the package "would lift annual output by 0.4% relative to what it would otherwise have been."
"It's late in the year, but a new package of this size that was implemented soon should be enough to deliver growth in line with the 'around 5%' target," he said.
Chinese stocks are on track for the best week since 2008 on stimulus expectations.
The world's second-largest economy faces strong deflationary pressures due to a sharp property market downturn and frail consumer confidence, which have exposed its over-reliance on exports in an increasingly tense global trade environment.
A wide range of economic data in recent months has missed forecasts, raising concerns among economists that the growth target was at risk and that a longer-term structural slowdown could be in play.
On Friday, data showed industrial profits swinging back to a sharp contraction in August.
"We believe the persistent growth weakness has hit policymakers' pain threshold," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
As flagged on Tuesday by Governor Pan Gongsheng, the People's Bank of China on Friday trimmed the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, known as the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), by 50 basis points, the second such reduction this year.
The move is expected to release 1 trillion yuan ($142.5 billion) in liquidity into the banking system and was accompanied by a cut in the benchmark interest rate on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by 20 bps to 1.50%. The cuts take effect on Friday and Pan, in rare forward-looking remarks, left the door open to another RRR reduction later this year.

Given weak credit demand from households and businesses, investors are more focused on the fiscal measures that are widely expected to be announced in coming days.
Reuters reported on Thursday that 1 trillion yuan due to be raised via special bonds will be used to increase subsidies for a consumer goods replacement program and for the upgrade of large-scale business equipment.
They will also be used to provide a monthly allowance of about 800 yuan, or $114, per child to all households with two or more children, excluding the first child.
China aims to raise another 1 trillion yuan via a separate special sovereign debt issuance to help local governments tackle their debt problems.
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that China is also considering the injection up to 1 trillion yuan of capital into its biggest state banks.
Most of China's fiscal stimulus still goes into investment, but returns are dwindling and the spending has saddled local governments with $13 trillion in debt.
The looming fiscal measures would mark a slight shift towards stimulating consumption, a direction Beijing has said for more than a decade that it wants to take but has made little progress on.
China's household spending is less than 40% of annual economic output, some 20 percentage points below the global average. Investment, by comparison, is 20 points above but has been fueling much more debt than growth.
The politburo also pledged to stabilize the troubled real estate market, saying the government should expand a white list of housing projects that can receive further financing and revitalize idle land.
The September meeting is not usually a forum for discussing the economy, which suggests growing anxiety among officials.
"The 'shock and awe' strategy could be meant to jumpstart the markets and boost confidence," Nomura analysts said in a note.
"But eventually it is still necessary for Beijing to introduce well thought policies to address many of the deep-rooted problems, particularly regarding how to stabilize the property sector."