UAE bank investments at all-time high

Bank investments in the UAE touched Dhs541 billion by the end of February 2023, the highest level in the country’s history, a report by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates revealed.

The report, issued on Thursday, showed a YoY growth of 15.2% to Dhs541.1 billion during the reference period, compared to about Dhs470.1 billion in February 2022.

These investments climbed by 1% in January 2023 to Dhs536.2 billion in February of the same year.

Securities accounted for the majority of bank investments, around 46%, or Dhs248.9 billion during the reference period.

Held-to-maturity (HTM) securities accounted for 42.5% of the total investments, reaching Dhs230.3 billion, a YoY growth of 93.53% from Dhs119 billion in February 2022, and a 4.7% monthly increase from Dhs220 million in January 2023.

The bank stock investments reached Dhs12 billion in February, a rise of approximately 1.7% on a monthly basis from around Dhs11.8 billion in January 2023, and a YoY drop of about 29.4% from Dhs17 billion over the same month last year.

According to the Central Bank of the UAE monthly report on the monetary, banking & financial developments the aggregate capital and reserves of banks operating in the UAE increased by 8.5% (y-o-y) to Dhs438.6 billion at the end of January 2023 from Dhs404.3 billion at the end of January 2022.

Issued in April, the report noted that national banks accounted for 86.5% of the total capital and reserves of banks operating in the UAE, which stood at Dhs379.3 billion at the end of January 2023 compared Dhs350.2 billion at the end of January 2022, a y-o-y growth of 8.31%.

Share of foreign banks in aggregate capital and reserves of banks operating in the UAE was 13.5 %, reaching Dhs59.3 billion at the end of January 2023, a y-o-y increase of 9.6 % compared with Dhs54.1 billion in January 2022.