Gulf banks can't finance huge projects alone

Gulf and Arab banks are unable to finance huge projects in the oil-rich Gulf region and fill a credit gap created by the withdrawal of foreign banks amid the global financial crisis, bankers said on Monday.
"The total shareholders' equity of the top 150 Arab banks is just 170 billion dollars," Shaikha al-Bahar, deputy chief executive of National Bank of Kuwait, told the Kuwait Financial Forum.
"These banks are not capable of financing huge projects. We have limitations," said Bahar, adding that the cost of projects in Gulf states over the next several years is estimated at more than 2.1 trillion dollars.
The global financial crisis has resulted in a major credit squeeze, forcing many countries in the region to cancel or postpone hundreds of projects for a lack of finance that was mainly provided by international banks.
The cost of lending also became expensive, thus raising the cost of projects.
Jean-Christophe Durand, BNP Paribas managing director in the Gulf, said good projects will still be able to attract capital at the right price.