MENA Banks: QCB monthly statistics "April 2026 - loan growth improves to..."

Research evidence excerpt

MENA Banks: QCB monthly statistics "April 2026 - loan growth improves to..."

Global Research

28 May 2026ab

MENA Banks: QCB monthly statistics Equities

EMEA EmergingApril 2026 - loan growth improves to 5.6%

Banks

Jon Peace

April QCB data shows loan growth at 5.6% YoY Analyst

The Qatar Central Bank's monthly statistics for April 2026 show loan growth at 5.6% jon.peace@ubs.com

YoY, up slightly from 5.1% YoY growth in March, driven by further strength in foreign +44-20-7567 0638

lending (up 110% YoY and up 7.9% MoM) and resilient corporate lending (at 3.4% YoY Luis Schmidt

vs. 3.1% in March), with personal lending slowing to 3.7% YoY (from 5.2% in March) Associate Analyst

and government lending slowing further to -6.0% YoY (from -5.1% in March). luis.schmidt@ubs.com

Consensus for FY26 assumes lending growth of 6.0% YoY. The month on month +44-20-7567 0847

growth in loans in April versus March was +0.2%, leaving overall loans in line with pre-

Iran conflict February levels.

Deposit growth accelerated to 5.5% YoY in April

Deposit growth accelerated to 5.5% YoY in April, up from 2.1% YoY growth in March,

the highest pace of growth since late 2024. Domestic demand deposit growth was

4.7% YoY, while domestic time deposits rose 5.7% YoY and foreign deposits rose 5.9%

YoY. The share of domestic demand deposits decreased MoM to 20.2%, while the loan/

deposit ratio improved to 133%. The month on month growth of deposits in April was

+1.7% after growth of +1.9% in March, with foreign deposits back to inflows for the

month.

Sector metrics: QIB and DUB have the smallest earnings downgrades; CBQ leads

on price performance

We present consolidated sector income statement and balance sheet consensus growth

expectations for four of the largest Qatar banks, together representing over 85% of