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By Asad Ahmed, Managing Director and Co-Head of Middle East financial services, Alvarez & Marsal
The year 2023 brought strong growth to the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) banking sector, defying global trends. The news from the United States and Europe was mixed, with banks posting good growth in most cases, though tempered by the overhang of commercial real-estate exposures that caused higher provisioning and a few cases of one-offs related to restructuring and replenishment of FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance…