KUWAIT - Bahrain's central bank advised lenders to raise their third-quarter provisions for exposure to two local banks owned by a pair of debt-laden Saudi firms to 75 percent, the central bank governor said on Sunday.
Maraj also said he expected Bahrain's economy to grow by 2-3 percent this year.
"We have upped the provisions ... to 75 percent in the third quarter", Rasheed al-Maraj said on the sidelines of a meeting in Kuwait.
Earlier this year, the central bank assumed control of Awal Bank, owned by Saad Group and The International Banking Corporation (TIBC), a unit of the Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers conglomerate.
In the first half, Bahraini banks were advised to raise their provisions to fifty percent of their exposure to the two groups, Maraj said in September.