UAE banks’ assets Increase to $910 billion by May 2022

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) on Monday said that the total assets of the UAE banks increased to $940 billion at the end of May this year, registering an increase on a monthly basis by 2.9%, or the equivalent of $26.65 billion compared with $910 billion the previous month.

In its report on monetary and banking developments for May 2022, the CBUAE said that banking assets rose on an annual basis by 8.2%, or the equivalent of $70.98 billion compared with $870 billion during the corresponding month in 2021.

Total bank credit rose to $510 billion at the end of May 2022, with an increase on a monthly basis by 2.65%, or $13.10 billion, compared with $490 billion in the previous month, as a result of a 3% increase in domestic credit, compared with 0.1% decrease in foreign credit.

The Central Bank attributed the increase in domestic credit to a 1.4% increase in credit granted to the government sector, 1.3% in credit granted to the public sector (government-related entities), 3.5% in credit granted to the private sector, and 16.9% in credit granted to non-bank financial institutions.

Increase in Deposits

Total bank deposits rose on a monthly basis by 1.6% – from $550 billion at the end of last April to $560 billion in May 2022, as a result of 2% increase in resident deposits against a 1.2% decrease in non-resident deposits.

The Central Bank attributed the increase in residents’ deposits as a result of an increase of 10.6%, 6.1% and 0.02% in government sector deposits, public sector deposits, and private sector deposits, respectively, while deposits of non-bank financial institutions decreased by 18%, the report added.

Credit Facilities

Meanwhile, credit facilities provided by national banks to the business and industrial sector rose 1.92% ($3.57 billion) in the first four months of 2022 to $189.68 billion from $186.11 billion in the corresponding period in 2021, the CBUAE said.

According to the CBUAE’s figures, the cumulative balance of credit provided by national banks to the sector on a year-on-year basis grew by 2.14% or $3.9 billion.

The value of credit facilities extended by national banks to the sector accounted for 89.1% of the gross accumulative credit balance, which reached $213.04 billion by the end of last April, while the share of foreign banks stood at 10.9% or $23.36 billion, the CBUAE explained.