The total assets of the UAE banking sector rose by 0.2 percent in February to 3.18 trillion dirhams, compared to 3.17 trillion dirhams at the end of January 2021.
According to the data of the UAE Central Bank, the total credit decreased by about 0.1 percent to reach 1.778 trillion dirhams, compared to 1.779 trillion dirhams at the end of January 2021. The decline in total credit was primarily due to the decline in foreign credit in February, by about 3.7 percent, despite the increase in domestic credit by about 0.3 percent. The increase in domestic credit is attributed to the increase in credit granted to the government sector and credit to the public sector (government-related entities) and the private sector by 0.1, 0.9 and 0.3 percent, respectively. Credit to the private sector continues its upward trajectory that it returned to last January after a continuous decline since the start of the pandemic, which reflects a relative improvement in credit in the private sector. Credit to the private sector declined by about 2.3 percent last year from its levels in 2019 due to the consequences of the pandemic, which affected the appetite of borrowers, and made banks more strict in their lending decisions.
Total bank deposits increased by 0.1 percent to 1.88 trillion dirhams at the end of last February due to a 1.5 percent increase in non-resident deposits despite a decrease in residents' deposits by about 0.1 percent from their levels in January 2021. This was as a result of a decrease in government sector deposits by 2.7 percent, and a decrease of 6.5 percent in deposits of non-bank financial institutions.
Source (Al Khaleej Emirati Newspaper, Edited)
