| Kippreport.com

Neither a borrower nor a lender be

February 24, 2010 4:11 by Aarti Nagraj

Earlier this month, the UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi confirmed that banks operating in the Emirates currently had no capital problems. “The liquidity is good,” he said, adding that if the need arose, the central bank would consider further measures.

So since they have adequate liquidity, should banks take the onus, and increase lending to consumers in order to improve the economy? As some experts at the Abu Dhabi Economic Forum commented, should they not shoulder more social responsibility, and be willing to take more risks?
They might, if they had adequate demand, according to Mohamed Jaber, vice president at Morgan Stanley. Speaking at the forum, he said that while it’s easy to say that banks are not lending, the problem is also from the demand side, as many consumers have been spooked by the crisis, and are not interested in taking loans. It is essential to look at both the demand and supply sides, he said.

Do you think the balance between supply and demand will be spurred by consumers, or by the banks? Have you been thinking about taking any loans recently? If yes, did you find it very hard to obtain credit from banks here?

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Tags: bad debts, banks, consumers, defaults, Dubai debt, Financial Crisis, lending, NPL, provisions, UAE