Bank deposits up 2.1% in April

Deposits with UAE banks increased by around 2.1 per cent to nearly Dh1,128.3 billion at the end of April, their highest ever level, official data showed Tuesday.

The deposits stood at around Dh1,105.1 billion at the end of March and the increase in April showed they gained nearly Dh79 billion in the first four months of 2011, showed the figures by the central bank.

Loans edged up by around 0.6 per cent to Dh1,054.1 billion at the end of April while assets slipped by just 0.04 per cent to Dh1,695.3 billion from Dh1,695.9 billion at the end of March, the figures showed.

Despite the decline, the assets controlled by the country’s 23 national banks and 28 foreign units remained the largest in the Arab world.

The report showed money supply (M0), involving currency in circulation plus currency at banks, increased by 1.4 per cent, from Dh 49.6 billion at the end of March to Dh50.3 billion at the end of April.

Money supply M1 (currency in circulation plus monetary deposits, i.e., current accounts and call accounts at banks) grew by about 3.8 per cent from Dh 251.6 billion to Dh261.2 billion in the same period.

The report said money supply M2, which comprises M1 plus quasi-monetary deposits swelled by about 1.9 per cent from Dh834.7 billion as at the end of March to Dh850.5 billion at the end of April.

Money supply M3 (M2 plus government deposits at the banking sector) increased by 2.6 per cent from Dh1048.9 billion to Dh1,076.1 billion.

During the first four Months of 2011, intermediary monetary aggregate M2 increased by 8.2 per cent while bank deposits rose by nearly 7.5 per cent and bank loans and advances by 2.2 per cent, the report showed.

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