- Bahrain's current account surplus increased remarkably from $2.63bln in 2021 to $6.7bln in 2022
According to Zawya article published on March 20, 2023, Bahrain’s real economic growth during the third quarter of 2022 reached 4.2% with consumer price index registering an increase of 3.6%.
The kingdom’s current account surplus increased remarkably from BD978.5 million ($2.63 billion) in 2021 to BD2.57 billion ($6.7 billion) in 2022, the Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) Board of Directors noted at its first meeting for the year 2023.
Chaired by Hassan Khalifa Al Jalahma, the Board reviewed the topics on the agenda and approved the CBB’s annual report and audited financial statements for the year 2022, in addition to reviewing the CBB’s activities for 2022.
Money supply
The Board also reviewed key monetary and banking indicators for the year including money supply, which increased to BD15.1 billion at the end of 2022, an increase of 1.7% compared to the end of 2021.
The banking sector maintained a high level of capital adequacy and liquidity, as the capital adequacy ratio of the banking sector reached 19.6% in Q4 2022 compared with 18.7% in Q4 2021.
The capital adequacy ratio for the various banking sectors was 21.5% for conventional retail banks, 17.6% for conventional wholesale banks, 21.8% for Islamic retail banks, and 17.0% for Islamic wholesale banks in Q4 2022.
As for retail banks, total private deposits increased to BD13.5 billion at the end of 2022, an increase of 4.4% compared to the end of 2021.
The outstanding balance of total loans and credit facilities extended to resident economic sectors increased to BD11.3 billion at the end of 2022, an increase of 3.6% compared to the end of 2021, with the business sector accounting for 43.8% and the personal sector at 50.6% of total loans and credit facilities.
Balance of sheet
The balance sheet of the banking system (retail banks and wholesale sector banks) increased to $224.1 billion at 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 BD15.7 billion at the end of January 2023, an increase of 5.3% compared to the end of January 2022. As for retail banks, total private deposits increased to BD13.9 billion at the end of January 2023, an increase of 8.0% compared to the end of January 2022.
The outstanding balance of total loans and credit facilities extended to resident economic sectors increased to BD11.3 billion at the end of January 2023, an increase of 3.4% compared to the end of January 2022, with the business sector accounting for 44.2% and the personal sector at 50.5% of 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 Sales
Point of Sales (POS) data for the year 2022 totalled 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 the year 2022 totaled BD3.8 billion (46.7% of which were contactless), an increase of 22.0% compared to 2021. As for the figures of the first two months of 2023, POS data totalled 28.6 million transactions (77.0% of which were contactless), an increase of 19.2% compared to the first two months of 2022.
The total value of POS transactions for the first two months of 2023 totalled BD657.7 million (49.5% of which were contactless), an increase of 16.9% compared to the first two months of 2022.
The total number of registered Collective Investment Undertakings (CIUs) as of the end of 2022 stood at 1745 CIUs, of which 211 new CIUs were registered during 2022, an increase of 63.6% compared to 2021.
The net asset value (NAV) of the CIUs increased from $10.6 billion in 2021 to $11.6 billion in 2022, reflecting an increase of 8.7%. Moreover, the NAV of overseas domiciled CIUs increased from $4.7 billion in 2021 to $6.1 billion in 2022, an increase of 31.3%.
