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Gross UAE bank assets surge 6% to Dh2.85 trillion

dubai - Domestic loans received by the private sector rose to around Dh1.132 trillion

The gross assets of UAE banks surged six per cent to Dh2.854 trillion by the end of November 2018 from Dh2.694 trillion a year ago, the Central Bank of the UAE said.

The banking sector's gross credit increased to around Dh1.653 trillion by the end of November, a growth of 4.6 per cent from Dh1.58 trillion in December last year, the apex bank's statistic shows.

Domestic loans received by the private sector rose to Dh1.132 trillion by the end of November from Dh1.086 trillion in December 2017, with retail loans amounting to Dh338.6 billion by the end of November compared to Dh337.5 billion in December last year.
In November, total deposits in banks registered a seven per cent increase of Dh112 billion to Dh1.739 trillion from Dh1.627 trillion in December 2017.

Residents' deposits comprised Dh1.535 trillion, government deposits Dh303.5 billion and non-residents' deposits Dh203.3 billion.

According to the Central Bank of the UAE data, the ratio of total banks' eligible liquid assets, which consist of cash in hand, liquid assets and eligible bonds/sukuks as prescribed by regulation 33/2015 & Basel Principles but excludes interbank positions, hit 17 per cent to total assets.

"The growth recorded in gross credit reflects the robust financial solvency enjoyed by UAE banks as a result of the significant improvement recorded across all operating indicators during the first 11 months of the year," the bank said.

Data shows that in November, the UAE monetary base expanded six per cent to an 11-month high of Dh371.6 billion by end of November from Dh350.6 billion by the end of October.

"The monetary base expanded primarily due to increases in currency issued [23.6 per cent of the monetary base] by 4.7 per cent and Banks and OFC's excess reserves [9.8 per cent of the monetary base] by 99.5 per cent, overriding the decrease in certificates of deposits purchased by banks [33.9 per cent of the monetary base] by 0.8 per cent."

- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com