Strong oil revenues, real GDP growth of 6.4% and surging expansion in consumer finance provided the right conditions for a bumper year for Saudi Arabia’s banks.
According to figures supplied by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA – the central bank), the aggregate net income of the nine reporting commercial banks (National Commercial Bank had not announced its results at the time of going to press) rose by 14.4% in 2003 to SR9434m ($2516m). And with NCB’s net income estimated at SR3.1bn, the total aggregate profits of all 10 Saudi banks is put at a record SR12.5bn.
