MUSCAT, Feb 23 (KUNA) -- Data released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) indicate that total foreign reserve assets of GCC countries amounted to USD 804.1 billion by the end of the first half of 2024, marking a 7.5 percent increase compared to end of the previous year.
The statistics also revealed on Sunday that these reserve assets accounted for 4.9 percent of total global reserve assets, making GCC countries rank fifth in terms of the size of international reserve assets after China, the European Union, Japan and Switzerland.
The data attributed this growth to the increase in oil revenues, in addition to the rise in prices of financial assets in global markets. The average price of Brent crude during the first half of 2024 reached about USD 84 per barrel, which constitutes the largest portion of financial resources of the GCC countries.
The GCC-Stat reported the total assets of commercial banks operating in GCC Countries amounted to about USD 4.3 trillion, with an increase of 8.4 percent compared to the total assets recorded at the end of 2023.
Foreign reserve assets include monetary gold, special drawing rights, reserves with the International Monetary Fund and foreign exchange, in addition to deposits and securities investments abroad.
Foreign reserve assets are considered a measure of a country's ability to cover imports, enhance confidence in the country's monetary policy, support the stability of the national currency exchange rate, and absorb economic shocks, whether local or global.
The GCC countries' foreign reserve assets cover their total commodity imports for approximately 15 months, which is three times higher than the global average set by the International Monetary Fund at three to six months.
The data released by the Centre also indicate that bank deposits with commercial banks operating in the GCC rose to about USD two trillion by the end of the first half of 2024.
This is the highest level of bank deposits in the history of the Gulf banking sector, with an increase of 6.2 percent compared to its size at the end of 2023, and about 9.9 percent compared to the first half of 2023.
The total loans provided by commercial banks operating in the GCC at the end of the first half of 2024 amounted to about USD 1.966 billion, with an increase of 8.3 percent compared to their size at the end of the first half of 2023, and about 5.1 percent compared to their size at the end of 2023.
The percentage of loans allocated to the private sector across the GCC reached 81.1 percent.
The Statistical Centre, with its headquarters in Oman, was established in 2011 to provide a common official pool of statistics and data for GCC member states. (end) nfa.aai