gulfnews : Saudi lenders bridge the gap despite cut by Europe banks

A sharp drop in lending by foreign banks in Saudi Arabia is not likely to stifle credit growth in the world's top oil exporter as local lenders and government funds have been stepping in, bankers and analysts said.
"If you look at the fourth quarter of last year, which is the latest data we have, it suggested foreign banks' lending to Saudi Arabian entities fell $12 billion (Dh44 billion) quarter-on-quarter," said Daniel Cowan, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, citing data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
"That was the quarter when the liquidity issues hit European banks and it was an immediate reaction to that," he said.

* username: rupertbu