meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Bahrain banks have cause for cheer

8 November 2023

Bahrain’s crowded banking sector has seen a sustained improvement in performance over the past year, amid generally stable economic conditions in which higher oil prices and procyclical public spending play a key role.

Loan books are in good shape. According to the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of conventional wholesale banks stood at just 2.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2023, compared to 2.5 per cent in the same period in 2022 – and well down on the 5 per cent seen at the height of the Covid-19 crisis.

Profitability has returned to banks, and higher interest rates – one source of those profits – have not yet had a material impact on loan quality.

Bank metrics have held up quite well, says Amin Sakhri, director – financial institutions, at Fitch Ratings. “There is a broadly stable NPL ratio and deterioration has been contained. We could have expected to see higher rates causing deterioration of asset quality in 2023 but the impact has been limited. We were seeing some deterioration, but it is very well contained.”

In addition, says Sakhri, liquidity in the system remains strong and is supported by higher oil prices. Capital buffers also remain sound and are supported by healthy internal capital generation from profitability overall.

Strong profit growth

The largest banks have seen profits swell this year. Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait showed a 20.9 per cent increase in first-half 2023 profits to BD37m ($98m), on the back of higher net interest income. National Bank of Bahrain showed a smaller 4 per cent increase in net income to BD40.8m ($108m) for the six months to the end of June, driven by higher income from loans and investment securities.

Even so, the overall profitabily of Bahraini banks is low compared to that of competitor countries. The system-weighted average return on assets at 1.2 per cent in 2022 was the lowest in the GCC region, according to the Washington-based IMF, which may reflect intense competition in a market that comprises 75 conventional and Islamic banks.

The shifting global interest rate environment inevitably has a bearing on performances.

According to S&P Global Ratings, a higher-for-longer interest environment means liquidity will be scarcer and more expensive, potentially affecting Bahrain, which has a growing external debt position. The agency points out that Bahrain's retail banks have large and expanding net external liabilities, which at the end of the first quarter of 2023 reached 26 per cent of total domestic lending. Against that, S&P Global Ratings notes that 60 per cent of the foreign liabilities are interbank, and 60 per cent are sourced from the GCC, giving reassurance that external funding will remain stable.

Loan-to-deposit ratios consistently below 80 per cent are another indicator that local deposits and external liabilities are recycled into government and local central bank exposures, said S&P.

Banks that are more corporate-focused benefit more on the asset side because the loans are on floating rates and re-price more quickly upon rate hikes, says Sakhri. “High rates have been supportive, but a bit less so than in markets like Saudi Arabia or the UAE, as these have higher proportions of lower-cost funding.”

Well capitalised

The strong capital positions of Bahraini lenders are a source of strength when it comes to supporting domestic project activity.

“Generally, Bahraini banks are well capitalised. The average Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio is solid, even in a GCC context, and the loan-to-deposit ratio, as reported by the CBB, is fairly low,” says Sakhri.

This means banks have the ability to absorb a large part of these projects. “We are not really concerned in terms of where banks are going to deploy capital, but it is important to bear in mind that households are under pressure, primarily due to the increase in the cost of living,” Sakhri adds.

Another area where Bahrain has been a regional leader is in financial technology (fintech) and digital banking. According to the World Bank Global Fintech Database, Bahrain was already a leader compared to the region and upper middle-income countries in 2017, with about 80 per cent of the population having made use of digital payments.

Since then, Bahrain has taken significant regulatory steps to create a favourable environment for fintech, including the introduction of a fintech unit at the CBB, a regulatory sandbox and new regulations for the digitalisation of banking and payment services.

As the IMF noted in a September 2023 assessment, digital payment service solutions, such as mobile payment applications, contactless payment cards and e-wallets, have been adopted by the public.   

Meanwhile, the door is still open for consolidation in a crowded banking system. The majority of these lenders are small, but just three of the country’s banks have a 50 per cent share of total assets.

The merger of Ahli United Bank and with Kuwait Finance House in 2022 was a cross-border deal, but the traditional drivers for domestic consolidation – which in the Gulf tend to be state equity owners looking to rationalise their shareholdings – are largely absent in Bahrain.

“Bahraini banks are generally profitable and their financial profiles are healthy, so there is no immediate need for mergers,” says Sakhri.

That will leave the country with perhaps more banks than it strictly needs, a legacy of its former position as the Gulf’s main financial centre.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11273948/main.gif
James Gavin

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Israeli offensive leaves Beirut in limbo

    5 June 2026

     

    Lebanon is being held in economic and political limbo by Israel’s open-ended offensive in the south, which has killed more than 3,500 people since March and is characterised by strategic objectives that offer no clear end in sight.

    Political leaders in Tel Aviv are justifying the operation on the grounds of eliminating Hezbollah – a far‑fetched goal against a dispersed guerrilla organisation, as with Hamas in Gaza – while ignoring overtures from Lebanon’s leadership for a ceasefire.

    The recently formed Lebanese government, meanwhile, continues to look impotent: unable to secure its territory from Israeli incursions or Hezbollah activity, and unable to deliver on promises of stability, reform, IMF funding and reconstruction.

    Echoes of the past

    The overarching shape of Israel’s military campaign is ominously familiar, echoing the 1978, 1982, 1985 and 2006 Israeli invasions of southern Lebanon – all entailing creeping encroachment without strategic resolution.

    Since fighting resumed on 2 March 2026, Israeli forces have gradually pushed north, crossing north of the Litani for the first time since the 2006 Lebanon war and seizing Beaufort Castle above Nabatieh on 31 May.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed the goal as establishing a “security zone” – the same term and concept Israel used to justify the occupation of a roughly 800-square-kilometre belt of southern Lebanon from 1985 to 2000.

    That occupation was a debacle for Israel’s military and ended in unilateral withdrawal.

    Israeli analysts are already drawing the modern parallels as the cost of holding ground in southern Lebanon rises, driven by Hezbollah’s deployment of cheap fibre‑optic first‑person‑view (FPV) drones that inflict a steady drip of Israeli casualties and losses.

    As with Russia in Ukraine, Tel Aviv is being tactically embarrassed by the advent of these fibre‑optic drones, which are immune to jamming and – of particular concern to Israeli forces – are too small to be reliably detected and intercepted by conventional counter‑drone systems.

    This leap in Hezbollah’s operational threat – based on cheap technology that can be locally assembled – has sharply raised the price of maintaining a military presence in the country.

    In an attempt to exact a retaliatory price, Israel’s air strikes rose by 110% between 19-22 May and 23-26 May as Hezbollah’s drone successes accumulated, according to conflict monitor Acled. But the underlying tactical dilemma remains.

    Israeli politicians, irate at the situation, have demanded escalation and intensified strikes on civilian areas, including in Beirut  – only to face US pushback.

    Tehran as the lever

    Planned strikes on Beirut, including on 3 June, have been held off in recent weeks under pressure from Washington after Tehran made Lebanon a bargaining chip in its wider negotiations with the US, repeatedly suspending talks following Israeli escalation in the Levant country.

    Tehran has also gone further than walkouts, warning it could respond directly if Israel strikes Beirut – adding an explicit threat of retaliation to diplomatic pressure.

    With a Gulf ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz both riding on the outcome, Washington is strongly motivated to keep Israel from striking Beirut.

    In this way, Iran is one of the few powers wielding any leverage over Israel’s actions in Lebanon – even if that leverage is a source of discomfort for Lebanon’s leaders, for whom Tehran’s clout contrasts starkly with their own lack of influence.

    That protection nevertheless remains narrowly tied to the Lebanese capital, with Washington turning a blind eye to Israel’s ongoing destruction of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon’s south.

    Within the border belt that Tel Aviv has dubbed the “yellow line” – amounting to about 7% of Lebanese territory – Israeli forces have accelerated the demolition of villages since the April truce and barred residents from returning.

    More than a million people, overwhelmingly Shia from the south and the Bekaa, have been displaced since March, and UN human-rights experts have pointed to the blanket evacuation orders and levelling of housing as mirroring Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

    The Lebanese state remains trapped in inaction, partially of its own making. Beirut was initially close to indifferent to renewed strikes on Hezbollah, whose unilateral re-entry into the war it had condemned for endangering the state.

    But as the strikes have shifted methodically towards civilian areas, Beirut’s restraint satisfies no one: the domestic audience wants protection, while Israel and the US want decisive Lebanese army action against Hezbollah.

    Yet the Lebanese army – still adhering in spirit to the November 2024 ceasefire framework and loath to move seriously against Hezbollah for fear of stoking civil war – has remained aloof from the conflict.

    Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is close to Hezbollah and maintains dialogue with the group, says it would honour a genuine ceasefire if only Washington could deliver one.

    But repeated attempts to shore up the ceasefire have remained conditional on the Lebanese army stepping up to rein in Hezbollah, while failing to guarantee an end to Israel’s destruction of civilian structures in areas it is occupying.

    On 3 June, a fourth round of US‑mediated trilateral talks produced a fresh ceasefire announcement, hailed in Washington as a step towards comprehensive peace.

    Yet its conditions – a complete halt to Hezbollah fire, the group’s withdrawal south of the Litani and Lebanese army control of undefined “pilot zones”– merely reiterate past failed protocols. The declaration was unsigned by Hezbollah and unenforceable by Beirut.

    Within hours, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the declaration, stating that any ceasefire must cover the south and begin with Israeli withdrawal, not Hezbollah’s.

    Both Israeli strikes and Hezbollah attacks have continued since the ostensible deal.

    Recovery on hold

    The economic cost to Lebanon, meanwhile, compounds by the day. The country entered 2026 already in crisis: cumulative GDP down close to 40% since 2019, the pound down 98%, public debt at 150% of GDP, and reserves as low as $11bn as of June 2025.

    The government of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam staked its credibility on a long‑deadlocked IMF programme finally unlocking external support. The war has upended this, driving away investment and delaying reform.

    The World Bank’s November 2024 assessment – covering only the previous round of fighting, before the March resumption – placed the economic cost at $14bn and recovery needs at $11bn, figures that the current war is now inflating by the day.

    Lebanon’s Bank Audi has warned of zero growth this year if the war continues, versus a pre‑escalation projection of reconstruction‑led recovery. Tourism, historically a fifth of the economy and the engine of the 2024 rebound, has been the biggest casualty.

    Looking ahead, no reconstruction can be financed while the destruction continues, and no IMF programme can advance while the state cannot ensure stability.

    Iran’s leverage may be keeping the bombs off Beirut, but the south’s entrenchment as a war zone is only deepening – with hopes for recovery receding further with every village levelled.

    While the costly occupation is imposing a rising political price on the Israeli government that may, in time, bring it to an end, this will be little consolation for those displaced – many of whom now have no communities to return to, and homes built over decades that are gone.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17120249/main.gif
    John Bambridge
  • Morocco tenders Falit dam project

    5 June 2026

    Morocco’s Ministry of Equipment & Water has opened an international tender for the construction of the Falit dam in Figuig province.

    According to local media reports, the project has an estimated budget of MD428m ($46m), with commissioning expected between 2029 and 2030.

    The bid submission deadline is 15 July.

    The dam will be built on the Moulouya River north of Bouarfa in eastern Morocco. The roller-compacted concrete structure will be 59 metres high and have a storage capacity of 25 million cubic metres.

    The project is intended to provide drinking water supplies, support agricultural irrigation and enhance flood protection in the region.

    Figuig is one of Morocco’s driest regions. It is also vulnerable to flash floods caused by sporadic but intense rainfall events.

    Reported ministry data indicates that annual flows at the project site can reach 40.8 million cubic metres in wet years. Long-term average flows are estimated at about 10.3 million cubic metres a year.

    The dam will include a spillway and a bottom outlet equipped with a 1,500-millimetre pipe. The outlet will have a discharge capacity of 28 cubic metres a second and will allow the reservoir to be emptied within 15 days if required.

    Morocco dam infrastructure

    The Figuig region is also home to the Kheng Grou dam project, which is designed to have a storage capacity of 1.07 billion cubic metres.

    According to regional project tracker MEED Projects, the dam is on track to be completed by the end of the year.

    Morocco-headquartered Bioui Travaux is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, valued at $96m. 

    Another local firm Novec is acting as the main contractor on the project.

    The Falit dam tender comes as Morocco continues to invest in new dams, desalination plants and water transfer schemes to address growing pressure on water resources.

    The country currently has over $13bn-worth of dam projects under construction, the largest of which is the Ratba dam project in the province of Taounate.

    Construction is also set to begin on the $238m Bou Ahmed Dam project, covering 259 hectares, in the province of Chefchaouen. According to MEED Projects data, this was the only major dam contract awarded last year.

    The joint venture of Societe Generale des Travaux du Maroc and Stam Morocco, a subsidiary of the TGCC group, will carry out EPC works on the project.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17120660/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Saudi Energy commissions 2.5GW battery storage project

    5 June 2026

    Saudi Energy, formerly Saudi Electricity Company, has commissioned a major 2.5GW battery energy storage project across five regions in Saudi Arabia.

    The project, which serves power grids in Riyadh, Rabigh, Dawadmi, Jouf and Qassim, completed all grid-tied charging and discharging tests at the end of May, said Chinese supplier NR Electric in a statement.

    National Grid Saudi Arabia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Energy, awarded Saudi firm Alfanar Company and China’s BYD Energy Storage the contract to build and install five battery energy storage system (bess) facilities with a total combined installed capacity of up to 2,500MW, equivalent to a rated capacity of up to 12,500 megawatt-hours, in January 2025.

    Alfanar was appointed as the project’s engineering, procurement and construction contractor, while BYD Energy Storage was responsible for the design, supply, supervision of installation, testing and commissioning, and maintenance of the bess plants.

    The 12.5 gigawatt-hour (GWh) project is the world’s largest grid-scale energy storage deployment, requiring 2,364 system cabinets in total.

    NR Electric said it supplied the project’s grid-forming control technology and more than 2,000 power conversion system units.

    The main applications for the planned bess facilities include load shifting, black start, frequency regulation and voltage support.

    They are expected to replace part-load operation of existing power plants by charging and discharging electricity according to system load variations and primary and secondary reserves, among other potential applications.

    Shenzhen-based BYD previously announced that the five bess plants would take its total deployments in Saudi Arabia to about 15.1GWh.

    It deployed its bess products on Saudi Arabia’s first on-grid bess plant in Bisha, one of 17 projects globally with a capacity of over 1GWh that entered operations in 2024.

    > Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17120197/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Kuwait prepares to tender refinery project deal

    5 June 2026

    State-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has announced that it is preparing to tender a contract to develop a gauging system for a tank farm at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.

    The system will replace an older, now obsolete system at the South Liquid Tank Farm.

    The contract will include engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning of the new gauging system.

    KNPC is planning to invite 24 companies to participate in the bidding process.

    These are:

    • JGC Corporation (Japan)
    • Almeer Technical Services Co. (Kuwait)
    • CTCI Corporation (Taiwan)
    • Kellogg Brown & Root (US)
    • Kentz Overseas (UAE)
    • IMCO Engineering & Construction Company (Kuwait)
    • National Petroleum Construction Company (UAE)
    • Sinopec Luoyang Engineering (China)
    • Sinopec Engineering Incorporation (China)
    • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
    • SK Ecoplant (South Korea)
    • Gulf Spic General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
    • Hyundai Engineering (South Korea)
    • Enppi (Egypt)
    • Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
    • Saipem (Italy)
    • Technip Energies (France)
    • Larsen & Toubro (India)
    • Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corporation (South Korea)
    • Sinopec Engineering Group (China)
    • Samsung E&A (South Korea)
    • Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
    • Fluor (US)
    • Hyundai Heavy Industries (South Korea)

    If a company has not been included in the list and would like to participate in the tender, it can file a complaint with the chairman of Kuwait’s Higher Purchase Committee within 30 days.

    The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery has been attacked and damaged as part of the regional war that broke out after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

    Several units were shut down at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery after it was hit by drones and fires broke out in the morning of 20 March 2026.

    The refinery normally processes about 730,000 barrels of oil a day.

    Kuwait’s oil and gas sector has been severely disrupted by the ongoing regional conflict, which has led to a dramatic drop in crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17119568/main.gif
    Wil Crisp
  • Kuwait tenders downstream consultancy contract

    5 June 2026

    State-owned downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has tendered a consultancy contract focused on a liquid sulphur degassing facility for four sulphur recovery units at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.

    This type of unit removes dissolved hydrogen sulphide and other sulphur compounds from molten sulphur before it is stored, loaded onto trucks, or exported.

    This makes the sulphur safer to handle and reduces emissions.

    A total of 21 companies have been invited to participate in the tender.

    These are:

    • Asprofos Single Member Engineering Societe Anonyme (Greece)
    • Enereco (Italy)
    • EPC Constructions India (India)
    • Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) (Egypt)
    • Gulf Spic General Trading & Contracting Company (Kuwait)
    • Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding Company (Kuwait)
    • ILF Consulting Engineers (Austria)
    • Larsen & Toubro (India)
    • Litwin PEL (UAE)
    • Mott MacDonald (UK)
    • National Petroleum Construction Company (UAE)
    • Penspen International (UK)
    • Petro6 Engineering & Construction (India)
    • Petrocil Engineers & Consultants Pvt. (India)
    • PL Engineering (India)
    • Processes Unlimited (US)
    • Tebodin (Netherlands)
    • Technip Energies France (France)
    • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
    • Triune Energy Services (India)
    • Toyo Engineering Corporation (Japan)

    A pre-tender meeting for the project is scheduled for 8 June 2026, and the bid closing date is 25 June 2026.

    The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery has been attacked and damaged as part of the regional war that broke out after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

    Several units were shut down at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery after it was hit by drones and fires broke out in the morning of 20 March 2026.

    The refinery normally processes about 730,000 barrels of oil a day.

    Kuwait’s oil and gas sector has been severely disrupted by the ongoing regional conflict, which has led to a dramatic drop in crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

    READ THE JUNE 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    GCC looks beyond the Strait; Iraq’s reform window narrows as fiscal assumptions shatter; MEED Top 100 companies.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the June 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17119564/main.gif
    Wil Crisp