Number of rejected loan requests drops by 9.5 per cent — CBJ

AMMAN — The value of rejected loan requests dropped by 9.5 per cent during 2017 compared to a 17.3 per cent drop the previous year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to the Central Bank of Jordan’s (CBJ) financial stability report 2017, the number of requests for credit facilities submitted by individuals and companies to banks reached 396,400 in 2017, with a value of JD18.1 billion.

For individuals, the number of requests in 2017 was 370,000, worth JD4.321 billion, 14.9 per cent of which were turned down, the report said, adding that the value of rejected individuals requests amounted to JD889 million.

Most of the rejected requests were by foreign banks, (31.4 per cent of the total requests), followed by Jordanian trade banks, which refused 23.9 per cent of the requests, and Islamic banks, which denied 9.6 per cent of demands.

As for companies, the report said that the number of requests to obtain credit facilities in 2017 reached 12,500, worth JD5.705 billion, most of them by Small and Medium Enterprises.

The banks rejected 9.5 per cent of the companies’ requests, worth JD823 million, accounting for 14.4 per cent of the total number of requests in 2017, compared to 15.9 per cent in 2016.

Local trade banks recorded the highest percentage of rejection followed by foreign and Islamic banks.  

The report said that the individual sector recorded an increase in rejection of loans requests in 2017, as a result of the increase of their debt versus income, which constitutes a risk for the banks.