UAE: Gross banks’ assets in May reach Dhs3.442tn in May, reports CBUAE

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has announced that the gross banks’ assets, including bankers’ acceptances, increased to Dhs3.442tn at the end of May, an increase of 2.9 per cent, compared to Dhs3.344tn at the end of April.

In its report on the monetary and banking developments for May, CBUAE stated that the gross credit grew by 2.6 per cent rising from Dhs1.817tn at the end of April to Dhs1.865tn at the end of May.

According to the state news agency, WAM, gross credit rose due to a 3 per cent increase in domestic credit, overriding the 0.1 per cent reduction in foreign credit.

Domestic credit mounted mainly due to 1.4 per cent, 1.3 per cent, 3.5 per cent and 16.9 per cent surges in credit to the government sector, public sector (government-related entities), private sector and non-banking financial institutions, respectively.

Total bank deposits increased by 1.6 per cent, climbing from Dhs2.008tn at the end of April to Dhs2.040tn at the end of May. The growth in total bank deposits was due to the ascent in resident deposits by 2.0 per cent, overshadowing the reduction in non-resident deposits by 1.2 per cent.

Resident deposits increased owing to 10.6 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 0.02 per cent escalations in government sector deposits, public sector (government-related entities) deposits and private sector deposits, respectively. On the other hand, non-banking financial institutions’ deposits diminished by 18 per cent.

The Central Bank also said that the money supply aggregate M1 decreased by 2.8 per cent, from Dhs730.4bn at the end of April to Dhs710.1bn at the end of May. The fall was due to a Dhs4.6bn reduction in currency in circulation outside banks and a Dhs15.7bn decrease in monetary deposits.

The money supply aggregate M2 (that includes M1 + qasi-monetary Deposits) increased by 0.1 per cent, from Dhs,567.3bn at the end of April to Dhs1.568tn at the end of May. M2 rose due to a Dhs21.1bn increase in quasi-monetary deposits, overriding the drop in M1.

The money supply aggregate M3 (that includes M2 + government deposits) also rose by 1.7 per cent, from Dhs1.858tn at the end of April to Dhs1.890tn at the end of May. M3 soared due to the elevated M2, boosted by Dhs30.8bn growth in government deposits.

In recent news, CBUAE has issued new guidance on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) for licensed financial institutions (LFIs) on the risks related to payments, and the preventive measures that LFIs should apply in order to mitigate such risks.

Read: Central Bank of UAE issues new guidelines on anti-money laundering