CBUAE Releases March 2024 Summary Report on Monetary and Banking Developments

The Central Bank of the UAE announced that the money supply aggregate M1 increased by 3.7%, from AED847.0 billion at the end of February 2024 to AED878.1 billion at the end of March 2024.

March 2024 saw a AED6.0 billion surge in currency outside banks and a AED25.1 billion rise in deposits, boosting the M2 money supply by 1.4% to AED2,134.8 billion. M1 drove this increase, despite a AED1.0 billion dip in Quasi-Monetary Deposits. M3 rose by 1.9% to AED2,583.7 billion, mainly due to amplified M2 and a AED18.6 billion uptick in government deposits.

In March 2024, the monetary base grew by 2.1% to AED703.7 billion. Key contributors were currency issued (up 5.4%), reserve account (up 21.0%), and monetary bills plus Islamic certificates of deposit (up 2.8%), offsetting a 34.8% drop in banks' and OFCs' current accounts and overnight deposits. Gross banks' assets rose by 1.3% to AED4,254.5 billion, while gross credit increased by 1.7% to AED2,047.0 billion, driven by a 1.1% rise in domestic credit and a 5.3% increase in foreign credit.

Domestic credit expansion was due to an increase in credit to the public sector (government-related entities), the non-banking financial institutions, and the private sector by 2.8%, 1.7%, and 1.4%, respectively.

Total bank deposits climbed by 1.9%, increasing from AED2,608.0 billion at the end of February 2024 to AED2,657.1 billion at the end of March 2024. The increase in total bank deposits was due to the growth in resident deposits by 1.5% and in non-resident deposits by 6.4%.

Resident deposits expanded as a result of the growth in non-banking financial institutions deposits by 17.8%, government sector deposits by 3.3%, and private sector deposits by 2.0%.

News Source: Emirates News Agency