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

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.

Fun Fact

In March, the Central Bank introduced new symbols for the UAE dirham, both physical and digital, to help promote the currency globally.

Published: 11th April 2025

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