Lenders prove Middle East's keenest recruiters

Banks and financial firms are increasing hiring at the fastest pace among Middle East employers as the region's economies improve and governments plan infrastructure projects, according to recruiters Monster Worldwide Inc.

Demand for banking and finance professionals jumped in March, with a 65 percent increase in job postings from a year earlier, data from the Monster Employment Index Middle East published on Tuesday show. Job listings for financial positions climbed 38 percent in the United Arab Emirates, home to the region's main financial hub.

"Banks are hiring as economies improve and infrastructure projects move at a rapid pace," Sanjay Modi, managing director of Monster.com for India, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, said by telephone from Delhi. "Banks are needed to help with the financial planning of these projects and everything that goes with them," he said. He wouldn't identify banks that are recruiting.