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Central Bank to Scrutinise Bank Assets: Al Suwaidi

DUBAI - The central bank of the United Arab Emirates will examine bank balance sheets to assess asset quality in the wake of the global financial crisis, governor Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi said.

Banks are required to give details on every loan above Dh10 million ($2.72 million), al-Suwaidi said in note sent to banks.

“This exercise is comprehensive as it is necessary to identify carefully the nature and value of impairment of the assets of banks,” Al Suwaidi said.

UAE-based banks face worsening loan quality as a slowing real-estate market increases the prospects of developers defaulting, Moody’s Investors Service said on Jan. 14. Small and medium-sized real-estate developers in the UAE are being hurt as home sales fall, making it harder for them to repay loans.

Banks have 20 working days to fill in the forms or one week prior to the submission of audited financial statements.

Demand for loans in the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East surged last year as governments used record oil surpluses to build multi-billion dollar infrastructure and industrial projects. UAE bank loans in the second-quarter of 2008 rose 49 per cent from a year earlier to 893.9 billion dirhams ($243 billion), according to the UAE central bank.

Moody’s Investors Service on Dec. 16 cut the outlook on four U.A.E. banks, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Dubai Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC and First Gulf Bank PJSC, citing ûmounting liquidity pressures and growing downward pressures on asset prices.