Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Data released on Sunday by the Association of Palestinian Banks that Jordanian banks operating in Palestine have acquired, during the past year, about half of the Palestinian banking sector's deposits, facilities and profits, Anadolu news agency reported.

According to the agency, the data reveal that customer deposits at Jordanian banks operating in the occupied Palestinian territories at the end of last year amounted to about $4.84 billion out of a total of $9.05 billion, a ratio of 53.6 per cent.

These figures are considered the latest data that compare the performance of Jordanian banks operating in Palestine to the Palestinian banking sector in general.

Compared with the year 2012, when customer deposits totalled $4.58 billion, customer deposits in Jordanian banks increased last year by about $260 million, or 5.6 per cent.

The total direct facilities provided by Jordanian banks amounted to £2.045 billion, declining by 1.8 per cent compared to 2012, when it had reached $2.084 billion. The facilities provided by Jordanian banks during 2013 represented about 46.3 per cent of the total facilities provided by banks in Palestine in 2013, which amounted to about $4.42 billion.

The data that Jordanian banks operating in Palestine earned a profit estimated at $84 million last year, an increase of 16.6 per cent compared to 2012. This profit represents 58 per cent of the total profit of banks operating in Palestine, about $143 million.

There are 17 local and foreign banks operating in Palestine, including both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of which seven are local banks, including two Islamic banks and five commercial banks, in addition to 10 foreign banks, eight of which are Jordanian, in addition to one British and one Egyptian.

*Middle East Monitor