The UAE Central Bank has approved new measures to ensure liquidity in the banking system in the face of the outbreak of the new Coronavirus (COVID 19), boosting the stimulus package to reach $70 billion from $27 billion.
The Central Bank revealed that the total value of the procedures related to capital and liquidity adopted since March 14th reached 256 billion dirhams (69.70 billion dollars).
As part of efforts to mitigate the repercussions of the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID 19) on the national economy, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank decided to reduce the mandatory reserve ratio of demand deposits by half for all banks, as it was reduced from 14 to 7 percent, which will contribute to enhancing liquidity.
On his part, Abdul Hamid Saeed, the new governor of the Emirates Central Bank, confirmed that the bank will continue to take all precautionary procedures and measures to support the local economy and the banking sector in the face of the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID 19).
The Central Bank expects that banks and finance companies will make effective use of the facilities of a comprehensive economic support plan directed at achieving benefits for their clients and the national economy.
According to the bank, an estimated 61 billion dirhams ($16.6 billion) of liquidity in the banking sector can be used to support bank lending to the sectors of the national economy, and to manage its liquidity.
Source (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
