Abu Dhabi:Gross assets of banks operating in the UAE increased by 4 percent quarter-on-quarter during the third quarter of 2026, reaching over AED5.815 trillion. This marks an annual growth of 11.8 percent, as detailed in the Central Bank of the UAE's quarterly report on monetary, banking, and financial market developments.
According to Emirates News Agency, total bank deposits rose by 2.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to AED3.568 trillion, reflecting a 12 percent increase year-on-year. Resident deposits grew by 2.2 percent to approximately AED3.25 trillion, while non-resident deposits saw a significant rise of 9.1 percent to AED317.9 billion.
Government-related entities' deposits contributed approximately 1.4 percentage points to the quarterly growth in resident deposits, with private-sector deposits adding 0.6 percentage points. Gross credit also experienced an increase of 5.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, reaching AED2.908 trillion, and showed a year-on-year rise of 17.3 percent.
In monetary developments for September, the money supply aggregate M1 stood at AED1.022 trillion, consisting of AED161.6 billion in currency in circulation outside banks and AED860.7 billion in monetary deposits. Money supply aggregate M2 rose by 0.6 percent month-on-month to over AED2.938 trillion, while M3 advanced by 1.2 percent to AED3.508 trillion, supported by a 4.5 percent increase in government-sector deposits to AED570.1 billion.
The monetary base was recorded at AED801.9 billion, with banks' reserve balances with the CBUAE seeing a notable increase of 31.3 percent to AED304.7 billion. The CBUAE's foreign assets totaled AED956.2 billion at the end of September.
In September's banking indicators, gross banks' assets increased by 1.3 percent month-on-month to AED5.815 trillion. Gross credit rose by AED36.7 billion, or 1.3 percent, to AED2.908 trillion, driven by a 1.6 percent rise in domestic credit to around AED2.305 trillion.
Bank deposits grew by 0.9 percent from about AED3.535 trillion at the end of August to approximately AED3.568 trillion at the end of September. Resident deposits increased by 0.6 percent to AED3.25 trillion, while non-resident deposits climbed by 4.1 percent to AED317.9 billion.
Deposits of government-related entities surged by 9.6 percent to AED378.2 billion, contributing around one percentage point to the monthly growth in resident deposits. Deposits of other financial corporations also grew by 7.2 percent to AED66.2 billion. Private-sector deposits remained stable at AED2.345 trillion, with government-sector deposits unchanged at AED460.4 billion.
Banking operations data for the first nine months of 2026 revealed that the value of bank transfers reached around AED21.734 trillion, including AED13.351 trillion in transfers conducted by banks and roughly AED8.383 trillion in customer transfers. Over 16.241 million cheques were cleared during this period, with a total value surpassing AED990.5 billion.