Abu dhabi: Total assets of the UAE banking sector, including bankers' acceptances, experienced a 0.2 percent increase, reaching AED5.57 trillion at the end of April 2026, as compared to AED5.556 trillion at the end of March.
According to Emirates News Agency, this data was released in the Central Bank of the UAE's Monetary and Banking Developments Report for April.
The report highlighted that gross bank credit saw a rise of AED25.2 billion, or 0.9 percent, amounting to AED2.721 trillion at the end of April, compared to AED2.695 trillion at the end of March. The growth was supported by contributions from all major sectors, excluding other financial corporations, which showed no net contribution during the month.
The growth in gross credit was largely attributed to an increase in domestic credit by AED18.5 billion. The primary driver of this enhancement was higher lending to the private sector, especially individuals, with credit rising by AED6.2 billion, contributing approximately 0.3 percentage points to domestic credit growth. Housing loans and personal consumer loans mainly supported this increase.
Credit to government-related entities rose by AED7.7 billion, or 2.3 percent, contributing about 0.4 percentage points to domestic credit growth. Positive contributions were also recorded in the credit extended to both government and corporate sectors, each adding 0.1 percentage points to the monthly increase in domestic credit.
On the deposits front, bank deposits increased by 0.7 percent, reaching AED3.469 trillion at the end of April, compared to AED3.446 trillion at the end of March. This growth was predominantly driven by a 0.7 percent rise in resident deposits to AED3.162 trillion, while non-resident deposits remained largely unchanged at AED307.6 billion.
The private sector led the growth in resident deposits, with an increase of 1.4 percent to AED2.31 trillion, contributing roughly one percentage point to the overall monthly growth. Government sector deposits also saw an upsurge of 4.6 percent to AED446.8 billion, contributing around 0.6 percentage points to resident deposit growth.
Conversely, deposits of government-related entities fell by 6.6 percent to AED339.3 billion, reducing growth by approximately 0.8 percentage points. Deposits of other financial corporations also decreased by 6.6 percent to AED65.6 billion, further subtracting 0.1 percentage points from growth.
Monetary aggregates showed a decrease in M1 by 0.8 percent from AED1.072 trillion at the end of March to AED1.064 trillion at the end of April, due to a 0.9 percent drop in monetary deposits, totaling AED8 billion, and a 0.2 percent decline in currency circulation outside banks, equivalent to around AED0.4 billion.
Meanwhile, M2 remained largely unchanged at AED2.87 trillion compared with AED2.869 trillion at the end of March, as higher deposits from private sector individuals and corporates counterbalanced declines in deposits of other financial corporations and government-related entities. Corporate deposits contributed approximately 0.7 percentage points to monthly M2 growth, while the decline in government-related entity deposits reduced growth by about 0.8 percentage points.
M3 also stayed broadly stable at AED3.407 trillion at the end of April, with government deposits unchanged at AED537.4 billion. The monetary base declined by 1.6 percent from AED880.2 billion at the end of March to AED865.8 billion at the end of April, primarily due to a 26.3 percent drop in reserve requirements, a 3.5 percent decrease in monetary bills and Islamic certificates of deposit, and a 1.5 percent reduction in currency issued. This decline was partially offset by a 50.5 percent rise in current accounts and overnight deposits held by banks and other financial corporations with the Central Bank.
The cumulative value of domestic fund transfers executed through the UAE Funds Transfer System reached AED9.384 trillion during the first four months of 2026. Of this total, AED5.7 trillion represented transfers conducted by banks and AED3.68 trillion by customers. In April alone, transfers amounted to AED2.723 trillion, including AED1.645 trillion conducted by banks and AED1.078 trillion by customers.
Additionally, the Central Bank's monthly statistical bulletin indicated that its gold holdings increased by around 2 percent during April to AED40.816 billion, compared with AED40 billion at the end of March.