UAE bank investments at all-time high of Dhs548.5 billion in March

Bank investments in UAE hit Dhs548.5 billion by the end of March, the highest level in the country’s history, a report by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates revealed.

The report, issued on Friday, showed a Year-on-Year growth of 16 % compared to about Dhs472.7 billion in March 2022.

Month over month, these investments climbed by 1.3% from Dhs541.4 billion in February 2023.

Securities accounted for the majority of bank investments, around 45.6%, or Dhs250.1 billion during the reference period.

Held-to-maturity (HTM) securities accounted for 43% of the total investments, reaching Dhs236.3 billion in March, a YoY growth of 74.1% from Dhs135.7 billion in March 2022, and a 2.6 % monthly increase from Dhs230.3 billion in February 2023.

The bank stock investments reached Dhs11.9 billion in March, a rise of approximately 0.8% from around Dhs11.8 billion in December 2022.

Industry credit: Credit financing provided by the UAE national banks to the trade and industry sectors grew 6.1% YoY, or Dhs42.5 billion in the first three months of 2023, according to recent data issued by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).

The statistics showed that the cumulative balance of credit provided by national banks to the two sectors amounted to Dhs735.2 bn at the end of March compared to some Dhs692.7 billion in the corresponding period last year.

According to the apex bank’s data, the cumulative balance of credit provided by national banks to the two sectors increased on a monthly basis by 0.1 per cent, or Dhs500 million, from Dhs734.7 bn in February.

Financing provided by Emirati banks accounted for 90.1 per cent of the total credit granted to the two sectors, which stood at Dhs815.9 billion by the end of March, with foreign banks based in the country accounting for 9.9 per cent or Dhs80.7 billion.

The credit financing for the two sectors in Abu Dhabi reached Dhs673.6 bn, or 82.6 per cent by end of January, with the Sharia-compliant banks comprising 17.4 per cent thereof, or some Dhs142.3 billion. The same amounted to Dhs384.7 billion in Dubai and Dhs100.6 billion in other emirates.

Gold reserves up: The value of gold reserves of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) reached Dhs17.413 billion by the end of March 2023, a YoY growth of 38 per cent.

The apex bank in its latest figures showed that gold reserves increased 9.4 per cent on a monthly basis from Dhs15.91 bn in February 2023.

During the Q1-23, the gold reserves grew 8.5 per cent from Dhs16.04 billion in December 2022.

The UAE’s gold reserves significantly grew over the past years to Dhs12.862 billion by end of 2020 from Dhs4.44 billion by end of 2019 and Dhs1.134 billion by end of 2018.

Earlier, according to statistics released by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE), the gross value of interbank fund transfers through UAE Fund Transfer System (UAEFTS) rose to more than Dhs3.89 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, a YoY increase of 35.2 per cent over the corresponding period in 2022, according to statistics released by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE).

Statistics showed that bank transfers and customer transfers conducted in the period under review stood at Dhs2.47 trillion and Dhs1.21 trillion respectively.Statistics also noted that March was the busiest month with dirham-denominated transfers standing at Dhs1.46 trillion.

The system facilitates fund transfers between banks and other financial institutions via their accounts held with the Central Bank. The system’s efficiency and governance are ensured by compliance with domestic and international standards, as well as the regulations detailed by CBUAE in the system’s Rules document.

Cheques cleared: In the first quarter of 2023, the Image Cheques Clearing System (ICCS) processed a volume of 5.56 million cheques Dhs306.4 billion, according to statistics released by the CBUAE. Statistics noted that March was the busiest month with total value of cleared cheques at Dhs111.7 billion.

Cash deposits at the Central Bank of the UAE reached Dhs39.392 billion, including Dhs39.39 billion in notes, against cash withdrawals from the Central Bank of the UAE of Dhs46.325 billion.

ICCS was introduced by UAE Central Bank to improve clearing cycles of cheques and streamline the local clearing. In order to participate in the UAE ICCS banks should have a safe, secure, efficient and robust payment application.

A CBUAE report revealed recently that the balance sheet of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) surpassed Dhs594 billion by the end of March 2023, marking the largest level ever in its history, a

In its budget report for March 2023, the apex bank said that its balance sheet grew by 5.3% on a monthly basis to Dhs594.12 billion at the end of March, compared to about Dhs564.25 billion in the previous month.

The bank’s balance sheet increased YoY by 15.2%, or the equivalent of Dhs78.3 billion, from about Dhs515.79 billion in March 2022 to about Dhs554.99 billion at the end of December 2022. Since the beginning of this year, it has increased by about 7.05%.

According to the statistics, the Central Bank’s balance sheet was distributed on the asset side with Dhs261.16 billion for cash and bank balances in March, along with reserved investments until the due date of about Dhs196.82 billion; Dhs107.82 billion for deposits; Dhs3.57 billion for loans and advances; and Dhs24.75 billion for other assets.