The total banking assets, which includes bank acceptance certificates, experienced a monthly increase of 0.6%, exceeding 4.74 trillion dirhams by the end of April 2025, compared to approximately 4.71 trillion dirhams at the end of the previous March.
According to the monetary and banking developments report for April released by the Central Bank of the UAE, the total bank credit rose by 0.9%, surpassing 2.25 trillion dirhams at the end of April, up from roughly 2.24 trillion dirhams in March. This growth is attributed to a rise in local credit amounting to 12.3 billion dirhams, along with an increase in foreign credit by 7.1 billion dirhams.
The increase in local credit results from a 0.7% rise in credit directed towards the government sector, a 1.2% rise in credit to public sector entities (linked to the government), and a 0.6% growth in credit to the private sector. In contrast, credit extended to non-banking financial institutions saw a decline of 4.3%.
Meanwhile, total bank deposits increased by 1% month-on-month, surpassing 2.96 trillion dirhams at the end of April, compared to about 2.93 trillion dirhams at the end of March.
This increase is due to a 0.1% rise in resident deposits, which reached over 2.68 trillion dirhams, alongside a notable 10.9% rise in non-resident deposits amounting to 275.6 billion dirhams. Among resident deposits, government sector deposits went up by 0.9%, while private sector deposits increased by 1.1%. Conversely, deposits from non-banking financial institutions fell by 9.2%, and deposits from government-related entities declined by 6.5% by the end of April 2025.
Monetary Supply
The Central Bank reported a 2.6% increase in monetary supply “M1,” reaching 1.011.9 trillion dirhams at the end of April, up from 986.2 billion dirhams in March, primarily due to a rise in cash deposits by 26.9 billion dirhams, outweighing a decline in cash circulation outside banks by 1.2 billion dirhams.
Conversely, the monetary supply “M2” saw a slight decline of 0.1%, amounting to around 2.435 trillion dirhams at the end of April, down from approximately 2.437 trillion dirhams at the end of March, due to a drop in quasi-money deposits by 27.8 billion dirhams.
The monetary supply “M3” increased by 0.2%, from 2.893.7 trillion dirhams at the end of March to 2.898.2 trillion dirhams by the end of April, driven by a rise in government deposits of 6.6 billion dirhams. Furthermore, according to the data, the Central Bank’s foreign assets rose to 937.5 billion dirhams by the end of April, compared to 935.2 billion dirhams at the end of March.
As of the end of April, the distribution of the Central Bank’s foreign assets included 403.2 billion dirhams in bank balances and deposits in foreign banks, 490.1 billion dirhams in foreign securities, and 44.1 billion dirhams in other foreign assets.
The Central Bank’s balance sheet stood at 972.3 billion dirhams, comprising liabilities and capital, with 449.1 billion dirhams allocated to current accounts and deposit accounts, 279.9 billion dirhams in currency notes and Islamic certificates of deposit, 165.2 billion dirhams in issued banknotes and coins, and 33.2 billion dirhams in other liabilities. The capital and reserves reached 45 billion dirhams.