UAE banks increased their investments by 16% to reach $202 billion in January

BY THE ARAB TODAY Apr 11, 2025

Table of Contents

UAE banks increased their investments by 16% to reach $202 billion in January

By the end of January, UAE banks had a total of $202.3 billion (AED 742.9 billion) in investments, which is 16% more than the same time last year, official data showed on Wednesday.

UAE Banks Increase Investments and Show Strong Growth in January

UAE banks’ total investments reached $202.3 billion (AED 742.9 billion) by the end of January, up 16% compared to the same time last year, according to official data.

In just one month, bank investments grew by nearly $2 billion (AED 7.3 billion), said the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).

Most of the investments went into debt securities—money owed to the banks—which hit $90.5 billion (AED 332.3 billion), showing a big 26.1% increase from last year.

Investments in held-to-maturity bonds grew by 7.9% over the year to $91.4 billion (AED 335.7 billion), though they dipped slightly (1.1%) from December.

Banks also put more money into stocks in the UAE, with equity investments rising 19.4% year-on-year to $5.2 billion (AED 19.1 billion), despite a small 1.5% drop from the month before. Other types of investments rose to $15.2 billion (AED 55.8 billion), up 13.2% over the year and 2.2% from December.

This strong investment activity matched the overall growth in the banking sector. Total loans given out by banks reached $595.2 billion (AED 2.2 trillion), up 9.5% from last year. Bank deposits also grew to $773.2 billion (AED 2.8 trillion), up 11.8% year-on-year.

Other Key Highlights

Over $486.3 billion (AED 1.8 trillion) was moved through the UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) in January. This included $301.9 billion (AED 1.1 trillion) in transfers between banks and $184.5 billion (AED 677.6 billion) in customer transactions.

About 1.95 million cheques were processed, worth $32.3 billion (AED 118.5 billion).

Cash withdrawals from the Central Bank reached $5.4 billion (AED 19.9 billion), while cash deposits were $4.1 billion (AED 15.2 billion).

Banking Sector’s Big Growth

The total value of banking assets in the UAE rose by 11% compared to last year, reaching over $1.24 trillion (AED 4.6 trillion) at the end of January.