Samba CEO says it’s too early to predict coronavirus impact on NPLs

Rania Nashar, CEO of Samba Financial Group, said only 40% of staff are working at branches under suitable conditions, amid low number of clients.  

Only 31 branches are operating across the Kingdom as part of the group’s precautionary measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Moreover, digital transactions accounted for more than 92% of Samba’s services, while ATM transactions declined.

Nashar added that the coronavirus was confirmed to have spread to the Kingdom by the end of February 2020.

“Therefore, it’s too early to predict coronavirus impact on non-performing loans. The outlook may be more visible in the next few weeks,” Nashar noted.

It is also too early to predict the impact of the Saudi government initiatives on mitigating the coronavirus impact or limit investor response.

Meanwhile, Samba is approaching the clients who are covered by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority’s (SAMA) programs to ensure they can benefit from these initiatives.

Saudi Arabia’s government launched SAR 120 billion initiatives to implement urgent measures to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the Kingdom’s economic activities, including the private sector, Argaam earlier reported.

Initiatives worth SAR 70 billion were launched to support the private sector, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and other economic activities.

Moreover, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) launched an SAR 50 billion financing package last week to support the private sector, especially SMEs, and mitigate the potential economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.

SAMA also announced another initiative, under which local banks will postpone repayment of loan installments for three months for employees working in the public and private health sector.