UAE bank investments hit record high of Dhs541bn in February

Bank investments in the UAE hit Dhs541bn at the close of February, the highest level in the country’s history, according to the latest update by the Central Bank of the UAE.

The report showed a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 15.2 per cent to Dhs541.1bn during the reference period, vis-a-vis Dhs470.1bn in February last year, the state news agency WAM reported.

These investments climbed by 1 per cent in January to Dhs536.2bn in February, according to the central bank.

Securities boosted banks’ investments

Securities accounted for the majority of bank investments, around 46 per cent, or Dhs248.9bn during the reference period.

Held-to-maturity (HTM) securities accounted for 42.5 per cnt of the total investments, reaching Dhs230.3b, a YoY growth of 93.53 per cent from Dhs119bn in February 2022, and a 4.7 per cent monthly increase from Dhs220m in January.

The bank stock investments reached Dhs12bn in February, a rise of approximately 1.7 per cent on a monthly basis from around Dhs11.8bn in January 2023, and a YoY drop of about 29.4 per cent from Dhs17bn over the same month last year, reported WAM.

In recent news, the central bank said gross banks’ assets, including bankers’ acceptances, increased by 2.2 per cent, from Dhs3.66tn at the end of January to Dhs3.74tn at the end of February.

The latest data from CBUAE showed that gross credit surged by 1.2 per cent to Dhs1.89tn at the end of February from 1.87tn a month earlier, driven by a 1.6 per cent increase in domestic credit, overriding a 2.1 per cent decline in foreign credit.