UAE gross bank assets at Dhs3.172 trillion at the end of January

Gross bank assets in the UAE, including bankers’ acceptances, were recorded at Dhs3.172 trillion by the end of January 2021, according to figures shared by the Central Bank of the UAE.

Gross credit in the banking system grew from Dhs1.779 trillion by the end of December 2020 to Dhs1.779.2 trillion in January 2021, with total bank deposits going up to Dhs1.876.3 trillion driven by a rise in residents’ savings, from Dhs1.884.5 trillion in December.

In the meantime, the apex bank announced that the Money Supply aggregate M3 decreased to Dhs1.768.7 trillion at the end of January from Dhs1.769.3 in December 2020.

In the meantime, Money Supply aggregate M1 increased 2.3 per cent to Dhs613.6bn as compared to December 2020 due to a Dhs1bn increase in monetary deposits and cash in circulation outside banks.

Money Supply aggregate M2 rose as well to Dhs1.489 trillion as compared to Dhs1.478.5 trillion during the reference period due to the increase in M1 and despite the drop in quasi-monetary deposits.

M1 implies currency in circulation outside banks (currency issued – cash at banks) plus monetary deposits; while M2 means M1 plus quasi-monetary deposits and M3 implies M2 plus government deposits.

The governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) said on Monday that the overall liquidity of the nation’s banking system has returned to pre-Covid levels.

Read: Overall liquidity in UAE banking system back to pre-Covid levels – Central Bank

He further projected the country’s real GDP to increase by 2.5 per cent in 2021.

The CBUAE also said that the banks’ drawdown of the dedicated Targeted Economic Support Scheme (TESS) zero-cost liquidity facility was Dhs22bn in March 2021, down from the maximum drawdown of about Dhs44bn in Q2 2020.