Banks in the UAE provided financing and credit facilities worth 61.5 billion dirhams in September alone. The total credit balance reached 2.4788 trillion dirhams by the end of the month, compared to 2.4173 trillion dirhams at the end of August, marking a 2.5% monthly growth. The total assets of the banking sector continued their upward trend, reaching approximately 5.2 trillion dirhams for the first time by the end of September, an increase of 113 billion dirhams from 5.087 trillion dirhams at the end of August (a 2.2% growth). This is according to data released by the Central Bank. The data also showed a rise in total bank deposits to 3.186 trillion dirhams by the end of September, compared to 3.1285 trillion dirhams at the end of August, an increase of 57.6 billion dirhams (1.8%). According to the Central Bank, this indicates a significant liquidity surplus and the continued dominance of deposits over loans, with a gap of 707.2 billion dirhams. The Central Bank's data also revealed a 2.5% decrease in the monetary base, from 854.1 billion dirhams at the end of August to 832.5 billion dirhams at the end of September, a decrease of 21.6 billion dirhams. The Central Bank attributed this decline to an 8.9% drop in reserve accounts, a 0.9% increase in currency in circulation, and a 2.4% decrease in current accounts of banks and other financial institutions, as well as overnight deposits at the Central Bank. The M1 money supply increased by 0.4%, from 1.028 trillion dirhams at the end of August to 1.032 trillion dirhams at the end of September. The M2 money supply grew by 1%, from approximately 2.562 trillion dirhams to approximately 2.589 trillion dirhams, driven by a 22.4 billion dirham increase in quasi-monetary deposits. The M3 money supply increased by 1.4%, from approximately 3.079 trillion dirhams at the end of August to approximately 3.123 trillion dirhams at the end of September. Total bank deposits rose to 3.186 trillion dirhams by the end of September, an increase of 1.8%.
