Financial Services

A government decision to access funding via the bond market could pave the way for banks to increase lending to the private sector.

Reports that international insurers are seeing healthy growth in Indonesia suggest high expectations over how the market’s potential will be met this year and beyond. However, concerns over new regulations and the country’s susceptibility to major natural disasters underline a sector that is not without risk.

The banking sector in Kuwait maintained solid fundamentals in the face of a number of difficulties in 2012, including continued regional unrest, a volatile euro and global economic uncertainty. In line with the conservative approach the sector has followed for years, many banks continued to practice prudent lending policies and to transfer funds to provisions. In light of recent solid growth, however, some in the sector are looking for a shift away from conservative policies to those that could spur lending and accelerate growth.

Si une demande en baisse en provenance d’Europe et une production agricole inférieure à la moyenne ont entraîné un ralentissement de la croissance du PIB en 2012, les banques marocaines continuent d’afficher une solide croissance, annonçant une poursuite de cette tendance pour 2013. L’arrivée prévue pour cette année de la première banque islamique du Maroc devrait également présenter des opportunités pour les banques étrangères.

Efforts to open up new avenues for investment in family owned firms in Oman are gathering momentum as the authorities step up a bid to steer more local firms towards listing on the sultanate’s stock exchange.

Basking in an environment of rising demand for credit in a growing economy, Indonesia’s banks have become some of the most profitable in the world. In recent weeks, two of the big three global ratings agencies have given the banking system a strong vote of confidence. However, there is also a downside. The sector could be hit by rising non-performing loans (NPLs) and changes in government policy that could affect the rupiah.