UAE Banking Sector Sees Net International Reserves Increase By 11% To AED 1.273 Trillion By July 2024

The UAE's banking sector saw a rise in net international reserves by 11.1%, or AED127.5 billion, in the first seven months of 2024. By the end of July, these reserves reached AED1.273 trillion, up from AED1.145 trillion at the close of 2023.

The Central Bank of the UAE held AED771.6 billion of these reserves by July's end, marking a 14.6% increase from AED673.42 billion at the previous year's end. Meanwhile, banks operating within the country reported net international reserves of AED501.6 billion, reflecting a 6.22% rise from AED472.2 billion at the end of 2023.

Gold reserves at the Central Bank increased by 23.5% year-on-year, reaching AED21.28 billion by July's end compared to AED17.226 billion in July 2023, an increase of AED4 billion. In the first seven months of this year alone, gold reserves grew by 17.3%, up from AED18.147 billion at last year's end.

Over recent years, gold reserves have seen significant growth, climbing to AED12.862 billion by the end of 2020 from AED4.044 billion in 2019 and just AED1.134 billion in 2018.

The UAE Financial Transfer System (UAEFTS) facilitated over AED11.13 trillion in banking transfers during this year's first seven months, a year-on-year increase of 17% compared to AED9.5 trillion during the same period in 2023.

Interbank transfers accounted for AED7.03 trillion, while transfers between bank customers amounted to AED4.1 trillion during this period.

Monthly remittances were as follows: January saw AED1.512 trillion; February had AED1.449 trillion; March recorded AED1.565 trillion; April had AED1.592 trillion; May reached AED1.78 trillion; June saw AED1.42 trillion; and July recorded AED1.81 trillion.

The UAEFTS is a key system developed by the Central Bank since August 2001 for real-time fund transfers among subscribers.

The value of cleared cheques using their images totalled AED765.08 billion across more than 13 million cheques in this year's first seven months.

Cheque clearances were distributed as follows: January had AED109.4 billion for 1.965 million cheques; February saw AED106.7 billion for 1.837 million cheques; March recorded AED112.6 billion for 1.855 million cheques; April had AED92.9 billion for 1.66 million cheques; May reached AED122.7 billion for 2 million cheques; June saw AED102.17 billion for 1.689 million cheques; and July recorded over two million cheques worth AED118.4 billion.

Cash deposits at the Central Bank amounted to AED111.4 billion during this period, while cash withdrawals totalled AED120.3 billion.

With inputs from WAM