Bahrain: Credit Expansion, Lending Opportunities and Asset Bubbles

With the strong liquidity in Bahrain’s banking system, Abdul Karim Ahmed Bucheery, Chief Executive of BBK Bahrain and Chairman of the Bahrain Association of Banks, talks about the lending opportunities and potential asset bubbles resulting from the credit creation.

Bucheery thinks there are a few lending opportunities in the kingdom forcing the local banks outside. “Given the strong liquidity that we have and the excess capacity for lending I think the lending opportunities in the country do not meet our aspirations. We need to look outside Bahrain,” he says.

Commenting on the asset bubbles, Bucheery does not see any on the horizon: “I think we have learned lots of lessons from past experiences. Most of the banks are becoming very conservative in their lending and are going back to the ABCs of doing banking. I think we will be more careful in assessing credit.”