Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank, a leading Islamic retail bank, yesterday (February 9) officially opened a new branch in the kingdom, marking the fifth branch to be inaugurated since last March.

This brings the total number of full service Ithmaar branches to 16 and the number of ATMs to 39, making it one of the largest retail banking networks in the kingdom.

Present at the Busaiteen branch opening ceremony were bank executive general manager Juma Abull, general manager retail banking Ahmed Abdul Rahim, assistant general manager retail banking Mohammed Janahi, other members of the executive management team and Central Bank of Bahrain executive director of Islamic financial institutions supervision directorate Khalid Hamad, who opened the branch.

"Early last year, against a backdrop of turmoil, we publicly stressed our complete faith in the national economy as well as our resolute determination to push ahead, with full force, towards realising our aggressive board-approved expansion plans," Abull said.

"We have since done just that, with five new full-service branches as well as sophisticated ATMs in strategic locations across the kingdom, being inaugurated in rapid succession. This expansion has, in turn, allowed us to grow even closer to our customers," Abull added.

"In fact, we are now within easy reach of all strategic residential and commercial communities across Bahrain. I am particularly pleased to note that, despite the challenging market conditions, Ithmaar's core banking operations have continued to grow," he said.

"This is testimony to the bank's resilience and the dedication and expertise of its management team," Abull added. – TradeArabia News Service