Dubai March 2 2023: The Central Bank of the UAE has released figures showing that the total investments of banks operating in the country reached a historic high of AED528 billion at the end of December 2022. This represents an 11.5% annual increase or AED54.5 billion compared to the same period in the previous year, when the total investments were AED473.2 billion.
The investments of banks operating in the UAE also increased by 3.25% or AED16.6 billion on a monthly basis, rising from AED511.1 billion in November 2022 to AED527.7 billion in December 2022.
Bonds were the largest component of the banks’ investments, accounting for 49% or AED258.5 billion at the end of December. This represents a 3.03% monthly increase compared to AED250.9 billion in November 2022.
The share of banks’ investments in securities held to maturity amounted to 39.6% of the total or AED208.9 billion at the end of December, a significant 77.3% annual increase compared to AED117.8 billion in December 2021.
Other investments of banks totalled AED48.3 billion at the end of December, an annual rise of 13.4% compared to AED42.6 billion in December 2021. This represents a 2.3% monthly increase compared to AED47.2 billion in November 2022.
