Mansour praises CBUAE’s efforts in promoting financial inclusion, stability

His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), has chaired the seventh meeting of the CBUAE Board of Directors, which took place at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Mansour commended the CBUAE’s efforts in promoting financial inclusion and stability. He recognised the Central Bank’s outstanding achievement of winning the Leading Federal Entity Award in the category of entities with over 500 employees at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Government Excellence Award 2024.

Sheikh Mansour also acknowledged the CBUAE effective role in issuing regulatory and supervisory regulations and legislations, consolidating innovation, and accelerating digital transformation aiming at shaping the future of the financial sector, supporting economic resilience, and achieving the UAE’s sustainable development goals.

The meeting was attended by CBUAE Deputy Chairmen Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh and Jassem Mohammad Al Zaabi; and CBUAE Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama, along with board members Younis Al Khoori, Sami Dhaen Al Qamzi, Ali Mohammed Bakheet Al Rumaithi, Saif Al Dhaheri, Assistant Governor, and Ibrahim Al Sayed Al Hashemi, Assistant Governor and Secretary-General of the Board.

The CBUAE Board went over the meeting's agenda and reviewed the progress of CBUAE’s projects and future plans, as well as the substantial advancements in the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme (FIT), which is designed to foster innovation and digitise the financial sector in alignment with the nation’s digital economy goals. These projects have achieved an 85% completion rate.

The Board approved the establishment of "Nebras Open Finance LLC," a Central Bank subsidiary mandated to operate a centralised infrastructure for open finance activities and establish a digital "Know Your Customer" platform, in accordance with Federal Decree Law No. (30) of 2024.

In addition, the Board approved the Central Bank's estimated budget for the fiscal year 2025 and reviewed its financial statements for the year 2024. These statements project a significant 22% increase in the Central Bank's assets, bringing the total to a historic high of Dhs877 billion.

The Board also reviewed the financial statements of the banking sector for the year 2024, noting a 9% increase in assets in the UAE from Dhs4.075 billion to Dhs4.462 billion, and a 7% increase in capital and reserves of National Banks from Dhs472.7 billion to Dhs505 billion.

During the meeting, the Board reviewed the initial results and data on the "Aani" instant payment platform during its trial operation phase. The platform has garnered significant traction, with over one million registered users from UAE nationals and residents. It is supported by a wide network of more than 50 licensed financial institutions, enabling it to handle high transaction volumes and facilitate digital payments across the country.

The "Aani" platform is considered the UAE’s national payment platform, currently processing over 400,000 transactions daily, with a monthly transaction value exceeding Dhs20 billion.

The platform is widely accessible, with over 80,000 stores offering cashless or cardless payment solutions. As more financial institutions join the platform, its reach is expected to expand further.
The Board reviewed the 2024 results and indicators of the Central Bank's Emiratisation initiative, which was launched in 2022 aiming to empower Emiratis in the financial sector. This initiative has yielded impressive results, with the Emiratisation rate reaching 121% after the employment of 2,227 Emiratis, surpassing the target of 1,875 jobs. Additionally, the Emiratisation rate in leadership positions increased by 14% to 23.7%, and in vital positions by 18% to 36.6%.

The Board approved the issuance of various regulations, legislations, and policies aimed at supporting the financial and insurance sectors. In terms of financial technology, five legislations were issued, 24 licences were granted, and 75 licence applications are currently under review.

With regards to the insurance sector, the Board approved three new regulations: The General Disclosure regulation for Insurance Companies, the Health Insurance Claims Management Companies regulation (Third Party), and the Foreign Insurance and Reinsurance Companies Representative Offices regulation.

Separately, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) announced recently that gross banks’ assets, including bankers’ acceptances, increased by 0.7 per cent from Dhs4,348.6 billion at the end of July 2024 to Dhs4,378.0 billion at the end of August 2024.

In its Monetary and Banking Developments for August 2024, the Central Bank said that gross credit increased by 0.5 per cent from Dhs2,102.1 billion at the end of July 2024 to Dhs2,112.9 billion at the end of August 2024.

Gross credit increased due to increases in domestic credit by 0.5 per cent and foreign credit by 0.8 per cent.

Domestic credit expansion was primarily due to increase in credit to the private sector by 0.8 per cent, overriding the reductions in credit to the public sector (government related entities) by 0.3per cent and the non-banking financial institutions by 3.0 per cent. Credit to the government sector remained constant during August 2024.

Banks’ deposits increased by 0.2 per cent, from Dhs2,736.0 billion at the end of July 2024 to Dhs2,740.5 billion at the end of August 2024.

The growth in total bank deposits was the result of the rise in resident deposits by 0.8per cent, overshadowing the decrease in the non-resident deposits by 6.4 per cent.

Resident deposits grew as a result of increases in; government sector deposits by 2.6 per cent, in private sector deposits by 1.2 per cent and in non-banking financial institutions deposits by 4.2 per cent, overriding the decrease in government related entities deposits by 5.9 per cent.

The Central Bank announced that the money supply aggregate M1 decreased by 0.1per cent, from Dhs889.3 billion at the end of July 2024 toDhs888.0 billion at the end of August 2024. This reduction was mainly due toDhs0.9 billion fall in currency in circulation outside banks andDhs0.4 billion decrease in monetary deposits.

The money supply aggregate M2 increased by 0.2per cent, rising from Dhs2,205.9 billion at the end of July 2024 to Dhs2,211.1 billion at the end of August 2024. M2 increased because ofDhs6.5 billion growth in Quasi-Monetary Deposits, overriding the fall in M1.

The money supply aggregate M3 also increased by 0.8per cent, fromDhs2,676.0 billion at the end of July 2024 toDhs2,696.3 billion at the end of August 2024. M3 expanded due to the growth in M2 andDhs15.1 billion increase in government deposits.

The monetary base expanded by 2.3 per cent, from Dhs718.1 billion at the end of July 2024 to Dhs734.9 billion at the end of August 2024.

WAM