VOL. XLI

No. 08

23-February-1998

SAUDI ARABIA

Bank al-Jazira Raises Earnings And Elects A New Chairman

Bank al-Jazira, the smallest bank in Saudi Arabia, has continued its slow recovery fromthe depths of 1994 without breaking free of the bad debt problems that have afflicted itsince the late 1980s. Profits at the Jiddah-based bank grew to SR18.3mn ($4.9mn), anincrease of 31% from 1996. No dividend is proposed, as has been the case for the last sixyears. Non-performing loans still on the books...