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World’s Best Banks 2021: Middle East
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May 04, 2021
This year was an exceptional one for everyone, everywhere, but perhaps even more so in the Middle East, where the economic slowdown induced by the pandemic was amplified by the drastic drop in oil prices and production.
As a result, regional GDP contracted by 3.8% in 2020, reports the World Bank in its April update, adding that the estimated accumulated cost of the pandemic in terms of GDP losses to the region’s economies by the end of 2021 will amount to $227 billion.
To try and weather the storm, governments set up stimulus packages and borrowed massively to sustain health care, housing and social welfare. As is often the case in times of crisis, structural imbalances were pointed out as major impediments to economic recovery, and decision-makers pulled the reform agenda back from their priority lists.
Turnaround Strategy
Focus on operating profit and building a low-cost franchise have helped the country s second-largest private bank claim the top position
Sandeep Bakhshi, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank Photograph by Rachit Goswami
When 60-year-old Sandeep Bakhshi was pulled out from ICICI Prudential in early 2018 and asked to head ICICI Bank, the country s second-largest private sector bank was facing multiple challenges. One was instability due to the exit of Chanda Kochhar. Second was high level of non-performing assets or NPAs. Bakhshi, who grew up in a defence family, hopping from one school to another, was quick to adapt to the situation. In a little over two years, he has delivered results.