Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chief Executive Officer of Mashreq, believes that the worst is over for the banking sector. While he is optimistic about economic recovery and strong growth in the banking sector, he believes concerted action by the government, Central Bank and the banking industry is needed to kick-start the economy and revive loan growth.
In an interview with Gulf News, Al Ghurair shared his views on what should be done to get the economy and the banking sector back to a strong growth trajectory.
Gulf News: Despite being a difficult year for the banking industry as a whole, Mashreq's results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2010 indicate that the bank has made significant progress in the recovery. What were the key elements of your strategy when you were hit by the steady rise in non-performing loans (NPLs) and portfolio impairments in the last two years?
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair: Our position was very clear, that we wanted to be very transparent and conservative when it comes to recognising NPLs and wanted to be more open to our shareholders and to the market. I think the market should reward banks that have been transparent in recognising their problems. I think the tendency of banks to hide the problem assets over a period of three or four years should not be allowed.
No comments:
Post a Comment