Net international reserves in the UAE’s banking sector saw a robust increase of 11.1 percent, or AED127.5 billion, in the first seven months of 2024, climbing to AED1.273 trillion ($346.58 billion) by the end of July, up from AED1.145 trillion at the close of 2023.
According to the Central Bank of the UAE‘s statistical bulletin, the Central Bank contributed AED771.6 billion ($210 billion) to the sector’s net international reserves at the end of July, representing a 14.6 percent rise from AED673.42 billion at the end of the previous year. Additionally, the net international reserves held by banks operating in the UAE reached AED501.6 billion by the end of July, marking a 6.22 percent increase compared to AED472.2 billion at the end of 2023.
Growth in gold reserves
The bulletin also revealed that the Central Bank’s gold reserves experienced a significant year-on-year growth of 23.5 percent, totaling AED21.28 billion by the end of July, compared to AED17.226 billion in July 2023—an increase of AED4 billion. Over the first seven months of this year, gold reserves rose by 17.3 percent, up from AED18.147 billion at the end of last year.
Diversified asset portfolio of the Central Bank
Gold forms part of the Central Bank’s diversified asset portfolio, which includes liquid funds, certificates of deposit, and securities held to maturity. The growth in the Central Bank’s gold reserves has been notable over recent years, increasing from AED12.862 billion at the end of 2020 to AED4.044 billion at the end of 2019, and AED1.134 billion at the end of 2018.
Increase in banking transfers
In a related development, statistics from the Central Bank indicated that the total value of transfers made through the UAE Financial Transfer System (UAEFTS) in the banking sector exceeded AED11.13 trillion during the first seven months of this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 17 percent from AED9.5 trillion in the same period of 2023.
Breakdown of transfer types
During this timeframe, interbank transfers accounted for AED7.03 trillion, while transactions between bank customers totaled AED4.1 trillion. Monthly remittance figures were as follows: AED1.512 trillion in January, AED1.449 trillion in February, AED1.565 trillion in March, AED1.592 trillion in April, AED1.78 trillion in May, AED1.42 trillion in June, and AED1.81 trillion in July 2024.
Overview of UAEFTS
The UAE Financial Transfer System (UAEFTS), which has been operational since August 2001, serves as the primary remittance system developed by the Central Bank of the UAE, facilitating real-time fund transfers among system subscribers.
Read more: UAE’s debt capital markets grow 13.1 percent YoY to $294.4 billion by Q3 2024: Fitch
Cheque clearance statistics
Furthermore, the Central Bank’s statistics indicated that the value of cleared cheques using their images reached AED765.08 billion, processed across more than 13 million cheques during the first seven months of this year. The cheque clearances, conducted using images, were distributed as follows: AED109.4 billion for 1.965 million cheques in January, AED106.7 billion for 1.837 million cheques in February, AED112.6 billion for 1.855 million cheques in March, AED92.9 billion for 1.66 million cheques in April, AED122.7 billion for 2.01 million cheques in May, AED102.17 billion for 1.689 million cheques in June, and AED118.4 billion for over 2 million cheques in July.
Cash deposit and withdrawal values
Additionally, the data revealed that the value of cash deposits at the Central Bank amounted to AED111.4 billion during the first seven months of this year, while cash withdrawals reached AED120.3 billion.
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