UAE's banking sector net international reserves increase by 8.1 percent in H1 2024

Net international reserves of the UAE’s banking sector increased by 8.1 percent, or AED92.3 billion, during the first half of 2024 (H1 2024), reaching AED1.238 trillion at the end of June, compared to AED1.145 trillion at the end of the same period last year.

The Central Bank of the UAE’s June statistical bulletin, issued today, showed that the Central Bank accounted for AED769.7 billion of the sector’s net international reserves at the end of June, marking a 14.3 percent increase compared to its balance of AED673.42 billion at the end of last year, while the net international reserves of banks operating in the country reached AED468.13 billion by the end of June.

According to the bulletin, the Central Bank’s gold reserves grew by 22.1 percent year-on-year, reaching AED20.467 billion by the end of June, compared to AED16.768 billion in June 2023, an increase of AED3.7 billion.

During the first half of this year, its gold reserves grew by 12.8 percent, compared to AED18.147 billion at the end of last year.

Gold is included among the Central Bank’s diversified assets, which also encompass liquid funds, certificates of deposit, and securities held to maturity.

The Central Bank’s gold reserves have grown significantly in recent years, rising to AED12.862 billion at the end of 2020, compared to AED4.044 billion at the end of 2019, and AED1.134 billion at the end of 2018.

The bulletin also highlighted that the number of employees in the UAE’s banking sector rose to 37,811 by the end of June, compared to 36,737 employees in June 2023, an increase of 1,074 new employees over the course of 12 months.

The distribution of banking employees showed that national banks employed 31,628 people at the end of June, an increase of 2,051 employees compared to 29,577 in June 2023. Foreign banks operating in the UAE employed 6,183 people during the same period.

The number of employees in the UAE’s banking sector has seen a notable rise in recent years, growing from 33,444 at the end of 2020 to 33,491 at the end of 2021, and reaching 35,830 by the end of 2022.

In a related context, the Central Bank noted that the number of licensed commercial banks in the UAE reached 61 in the first half of this year, comprising 23 national banks and 38 foreign banks.

The number of bank branches stood at 554, with national banks accounting for 482 branches, and foreign banks for 72 branches.

The number of e-banking service units affiliated with national banks reached 46 units by the end of the first half of this year, while the number of exchange offices reached 21. Meanwhile, the number of e-banking service units of foreign banks remained at 21.

Banking operations statistics released by the Central Bank today showed that the value of transactions processed through the UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) exceeded AED9.32 trillion during the first half of this year, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 16 percent, compared to transfers amounting to AED8.01 trillion during the same period in 2023.

According to the statistics, transfers during the first half were distributed as AED5.829 trillion in interbank transfers and AED3.49 trillion in customer transfers.

The value of transfers reached AED1.512 trillion in January, AED1.449 trillion in February, AED1.565 trillion in March, AED1.592 trillion in April, AED1.78 trillion in May, and AED1.42 trillion in June 2024.

It is worth noting that the UAEFTS, which has been operated by the Central Bank since August 2001, facilitates real-time money transfers among entities registered in the system.

The Central Bank’s statistics also revealed that the value of cleared cheques using their images amounted to AED646.6 billion, distributed across 11.03 million cheques during the first half of this year.

Cheque clearances, using their images, were distributed as follows: AED109.4 billion for approximately 1.965 million cheques in January, AED106.7 billion for 1.837 million cheques in February, AED112.6 billion for 1.855 million cheques in March, AED92.9 billion for 1.66 million cheques in April, AED122.7 billion for 2.01 million cheques in May, and AED102.17 billion for 1.689 million cheques in June.

The statistics further indicated that the value of cash deposits at the Central Bank amounted to AED93.6 billion during the first half of this year, while the value of cash withdrawals from the Central Bank reached AED103.2 billion during the same period, including AED103.19 billion in paper currency and AED33.2 million in coins.