UAE banks’ savings deposits up 8.4% to reach $80.2bn

The UAE banking sector has demonstrated growth and stability in recent months. According to the latest data, the total value of savings deposits held by banks surged by 8.4 percent year on year, reaching 294.66 billion dirhams, equivalent to approximately $80.2 billion.

Of these deposits, 247.49 billion dirhams were held in local currency, while 47.17 billion dirhams were in foreign currencies.

This upward trend in savings deposits continued with a 1.68 percent increase from April, when the total amount stood at 289.78 billion dirhams. In addition, the value of time deposits saw a remarkable rise of 17 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 842.98 billion dirhams. Demand deposits also experienced substantial growth, climbing by more than 10 percent year-on-year to 1.04 trillion dirhams.

The banking sector’s net international reserves saw a notable surge of 29 percent, totaling 1.23 trillion dirhams by the end of May. This total includes 763.88 billion dirhams held by the Central Bank of the UAE and 472.68 billion dirhams held by other banks operating in the UAE. In conjunction with this, CBUAE’s gold reserves grew by 19.7 percent year on year, reaching 20.61 billion dirhams. The gold reserves also saw a 1.3 percent increase in May compared to April.

Transaction volumes through the UAE Funds Transfer System also experienced growth. By the end of May, the total value of transactions rose to 7.9 trillion dirhams, marking a 17 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. This total includes 4.96 trillion dirhams in interbank transfers and 2.93 trillion dirhams in transfers between bank customers. Additionally, the value of cheques cleared using the Image Cheque Clearing System reached 544.4 billion dirhams by the end of May.