Total banking sector assets in the UAE, including bankers’ acceptances, rose by 0.6 percent month-on-month to exceed AED4.749 trillion ($1.29 trillion) at the end of April 2025, up from approximately AED4.719 trillion ($1.28 trillion) at the end of March.
According to the UAE central bank‘s April 2025 Summary Report, total bank credit increased by 0.9 percent to surpass AED2.259 trillion at the end of April, driven by a rise of AED12.3 billion in domestic credit and AED7.1 billion in foreign credit.
Total bank deposits exceed AED2.965 trillion
The central bank attributed the growth in domestic credit to a 0.7 percent increase in credit to the government sector, a 1.2 percent increase to the public sector (government-related entities) and a 0.6 percent increase to the private sector. Meanwhile, credit to non-banking financial institutions declined by 4.3 percent.
Total bank deposits across the UAE banking sector also rose by 1 percent month-on-month to exceed AED2.965 trillion at the end of April. This increase was driven by a 0.1 percent rise in resident deposits, which reached over AED2.689 trillion, in addition to a 10.9 percent increase in non-resident deposits to AED275.6 billion.
Within resident deposits, government sector deposits rose by 0.9 percent, and private sector deposits increased by 1.1 percent. However, deposits from non-banking financial institutions fell by 9.2 percent, and deposits from government-related entities declined by 6.5 percent.
UAE’s monetary aggregate M1 rises 2.6 percent
The UAE central bank also reported a 2.6 percent increase in the banking sector’s monetary aggregate M1, which reached AED1.0119 trillion at the end of April. This was due to a AED26.9 billion increase in monetary deposits, which offset a AED1.2 billion decline in currency in circulation outside banks.
Conversely, the UAE’s M2 aggregate declined by 0.1 percent to AED2.435 trillion at the end of April, driven by a AED27.8 billion fall in quasi-monetary deposits.
Meanwhile, the M3 aggregate increased by 0.2 percent to AED2.8982 trillion in April, mainly due to an increase in government deposits.
The UAE central bank’s data also revealed a 1.7 percent decline in the monetary base to AED819 billion in April, due to a 2.5 percent drop in issued currency and a 32 percent fall in reserve accounts, despite a significant 159.8 percent surge in current accounts and overnight deposits held by banks and other financial institutions at the central bank, as well as a 3.1 percent rise in monetary bills and Islamic certificates of deposit.
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Central bank’s foreign assets increase to AED937.5 billion
The report showed that the central bank’s foreign assets increased to AED937.5 billion at the end of April, compared to AED935.2 billion at the end of March. These foreign assets comprised AED403.2 billion in bank balances and deposits abroad, AED490.1 billion in foreign securities and AED44.1 billion in other foreign assets.
In addition, the central bank’s balance sheet totalled AED972.3 billion, with liabilities and capital consisting of AED449.1 billion in current accounts and deposit accounts, AED279.9 billion in monetary bills and Islamic certificates of deposit, AED165.2 billion in currency notes and coins in circulation, AED33.2 billion in other liabilities and AED45 billion in capital and reserves.
On the asset side, the balance sheet comprised AED210.9 billion in cash and bank balances, AED208 billion in deposits, AED516.8 billion in investments, AED0.5 billion in loans and advances, and AED36.2 billion in other assets.
