A year ago, total assets of banks in the UAE increased by 7.6 per cent year-on-year at the end of September 2020, and two per cent quarter-on-quarter to Dh3.253 trillion
 

The gross assets of banks in the UAE, including bankers’ acceptances, rose by 0.8 per cent, from Dh3.209 trillion at the end of June 2021 to Dh3.233 trillion at the end of July 2021, the Central Bank of the UAE said on Wednesday.

A year ago, total assets of banks in the UAE increased by 7.6 per cent year-on-year at the end of September 2020, and two per cent quarter-on-quarter to Dh3.253 trillion.

Total bank deposits increased by 0.3 per cent, increasing from Dh1.909 trillion at the end of June 2021 to Dh1.915 trillion at the end of July 2021, attributable to 0.1 per cent increase in resident deposits and 2.3 per cent rise in non-resident deposits respectively, a CBUAE said in a statement.

Resident deposits rose due to 3.5 per cent, rise in government sector deposits, overshadowing the fall in deposits from GREs, private sector and non-banking financial institutions’ by 2.0 per cent, 0.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively.

Money supply aggregate M1 decreased by 0.8 percent, from Dh659.5 billion at the end of June 2021 to Dh653.9 billion at the end of July 2021.

The money supply aggregate M2 also decreased by 0.7 per cent, from Dh1.489 trillion at the end of June 2021 to Dh1.478 trillion at the end of July 2021.

The money supply aggregate M3 increased by 0.1 percent, from Dh1.773 trillion at the end of June 2021 to Dh1.775 trillion at the end of July 2021.

In the second quarter 2021, banks in the UAE continued to account for the biggest share of regional banking balance sheet with total assets of $840 billion, accounting for a third of the total banking sector assets in the GCC, followed by Saudi Arabian banks at $771 billion or 26.7 per cent of the aggregate, analysts at Kamco Invest said in their GCC Banking Report.

Gross credit extended by banks in the UAE witnessed a marginal growth of 0.9 per cent during Q2-2021 after showing declines of 1.4 per cent during the previous two quarters. Total gross credit stood at Dh 1.77 trillion at the end of Q2-2021, based on preliminary numbers, slightly higher than pre-pandemic gross credit of Dh1.76 trillion at the end of 2019.

Banks based in the UAE reported the biggest increase in profits during the second quarter, registering a growth of 11.8 per cent after nine out of 16 listed banks in the UAE reported an increase in net profits.

First Abu Dhabi Bank reported the biggest absolute growth in profits that reached $783.7 million in Q2-2021 as compared to $674 million in Q1-2021. ADCB and Dubai Islamic Bank followed in terms of absolute profit growth, registering increases of 25.1 per cent and 19.3 per cent q-o-q, respectively. On the other hand, Bank of Sharjah continued to report loss during the quarter that reached $93.9 million in Q2-2021.