Arab bank assets will for the first top $2 trillion this year as Middle East and North African economies expand, and the banks lender more, the Union of Arab Banks said.

Combined, lenders from Morocco to Oman are likely to post a 25 percent increase in profit this year to $32 billion, Adnan Yousif, chairman of the union, told reporters in Dubai on Wednesday.

'The banks are doing very well because of liquidity, and the growth and expansion of economies,' said Yousif. 'You have to have cash for this.'    

The union, whose members include 400 financial institutions, coordinates activities between Arab financial services firms and acts as a consultant to the industry.  -Reuters