Banking Services Improvement via Economic Development [Archives:2001/10/Business & Economy]

Similar to many developing countries, assessment of banking in Yemen should be connected to banks’ capitals, reserves, activities, fixed assets, etc. The expansion of Banks’ lending services narrow their resources when debtors are late to repay their debts over their due period. 
Increase of the budget of the commercial banks 
“Commercial Banks profits increased by 74,000,000,000 rials in 2000, revealed Mr. Ahmad Abdul Rahman Assamawi, President of the Yemen Central Bank (YCB) in a meeting with chairmen of commercial banks operating in Yemen. He said that the deposits also increased by 60,000,000,000 rials in the same year, indicating a general increase in the budget of all commercial banks to 300,000,000,000 rials in the same year compared with 235,000,000,000 rials in 1999. The lending services of these banks also increased from 73,000,000,000 in 1999 to 76,000,000,000 rials last year. 
New tools to reform banking 
During the meeting, importance of improving banks’ services, expanding lending scale and implementing new tools to facilitate services to the public were highly stressed. 
The YCB was granted a gratuitous loan of $80,000,000 from the IAD in 1997 to implement new regulations by which withholdings and income taxes will be decreased or exempted. The YCB is continuing implementing new regulations related to loans’ classification according to international standards.
 
Types of Banks 
According to the different services they offer the available banks can be divided into: 7 Commercial Banks, 3 Islamic Banks, 4 Foreign Banks and 3 specialized banks out of which one (The Industrialized Bank) has been already liquidized. 
Increase in financial resources and the contribution to the development of the country can be achieved if financial positions are stable. Stability of financial positions helps increase people’s savings and make investment projects financed by bank loans a success. 
Hence, commercial banks should contribute to the investment process as well as the economic development process so that success of projects they support is ensured and repayment of their loans is easily and quickly done.
 

——
[archive-e:10-v:2001-y:2001-d:2001-03-05-p:./2001/iss10/b&e.htm]