Central Bank foreign assets up

According to the data from the bank, total foreign currency assets of the bank stood at Dh171.07b compared with Dh114.2b in February 2010, an increase of Dh56.87b, or 49.76 per cent, in 12 months.

The Central Bank’s held-to-maturity foreign securities have surged massively from Dh0.04b in February 2010 to Dh82.1b in February 2011.

At the same time, total assets held by the UAE’s Central Bank rose 27.8 per cent in the 12 months up to February 2011. According to Central Bank’s balance sheet for February 2011, total assets stood at Dh247b compared with Dh193.3b in February 2010, an increase of Dh53.7b, or 27.76 per cent, in 12 months.

The apex bank’s assets have swelled by over Dh18b in the first two months of 2011, from Dh228.9b at the end of 2010.

The Central bank has slashed its deposits with other banks by nearly Dh23b in 12 months, from Dh73.6b in February 2010 to Dh50.6b in February 2011. Analysts said earlier that the country’s apex bank was investing in more profitable securities as interest rates remained at one of the lowest levels.

However, the bank increased its deposits month-on-month in February 2011 by Dh13.64b, or 37 per cent, from Dh36.94b in January 2011, data showed. At the same time, cash held by the bank rose a massive 162 per cent m-o-m, from Dh1.97b in January 2011 to Dh5.16b in February 2011, but still remains a quarter (24.9 per cent) below the Dh6.87b registered at the end of December 2010.

That decline, however, has been more than offset by the surge in deposits (up 13.7 per cent in the first 2 months of 2011), held-to-maturity investments (+7.8 per cent in 2 months), loans and advances (+0.6 per cent) and other assets (+1.3 per cent).