According to the latest statistics from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), bank investments in the country increased by 4.1 percent year on year to 489.8 billion dirhams at the end of August, an increase equivalent to 19.4 billion dirhams compared to 470.4 billion dirhams during the same period in 2021.
Data revealed that bank investments climbed by about 16.6 billion dirhams, or 3.5 percent, in the first eight months of 2022, compared to 473.2 billion dirhams at the end of December 2021.
Securities representing other people’s debts, known as “debt bonds,” accounted for more than 50.24 percent of bank investments in August, totaling 246.1 billion dirhams, CBUAE reported.
Banks’ investments in bonds held to maturity accounted for approximately 37.2 percent of total investments, reaching 182.4 billion dirhams at the end of last August, an increase of 50.7 percent on an annual basis, compared to 121 billion dirhams in August 2021. This is also an increase of about 2.4 percent on a monthly basis, compared to 178.1 billion dirhams in July 2022.
Banks’ stock investments reached 16.6 billion dirhams at the end of August, a 22.1 percent surge year on year, compared to around 13.6 billion dirhams in August 2021. Investments increased by 1.8 percent month on month, to approximately 16.3 billion dirhams in July 2022.
Moreover, other bank investments totaled approximately 44.7 billion dirhams at the end of August, representing a 4.9 percent increase over the first eight months of this year, compared to approximately 42.6 billion in December 2021.
