A study by the International Monetary Fund has said that Qatar has had the lowest level of non-performing loans in the Gulf region in 2009, the Peninsula has reported. NPLs in Qatar's banks stood at 1.7% last year compared to 9.7% in Kuwait, 4.6% in the UAE, 3.9% in Bahrain, 3.3% in Saudi and 2.8% in Oman, according to the study. "The study also showed that global financial market conditions have an effect on NPLs of banks. This implies that regulators and central banks in the GCC have to be wary about increasing NPLs during periods of low growth and tight financing," the study said.