UAE Banking Sector's Net International Reserves Rise 11.1% By End Of July 2024

The UAE banking sector's net international reserves grew by 11.1% (AED 127.5 billion) in the first seven months of 2024. It reached AED 1.273 trillion by the end of July, up from AED 1.145 trillion compared to last year.

In the first seven months of 2024, the gold reserves grew by 17.3%, compared to AED 18.147 billion at the end of 2023. Gold is part of the Central Bank's collection of assets, which also includes cash, certificates of deposit, and securities that are held until they mature.

The Central Bank's gold reserves have increased greatly in recent years, going from AED 4.044 billion at the end of 2019 to AED 12.862 billion at the end of 2020.

According to the Central Bank of the UAE's June report, issued on Wednesday, the Central Bank held AED 771.6 billion of the sector's net international reserves at the end of July, a 14.6% increase from AED 673.42 billion at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, the net international reserves of banks in the UAE reached AED 501.6 billion by the end of July, marking a 6.22% increase from AED 472.2 billion last year, WAM reported. The Central Bank's gold reserves grew by 23.5% from July 2023 to July 2024, reaching AED 21.28 billion, up from AED 17.226 billion, an increase of AED 4 billion.

The report on banking operations showed that the total value of transfers in the UAE's banking sector through the UAE Financial Transfer System (UAEFTS) surpassed AED 11.13 trillion in the first seven months of 2024.

This is a 17% increase compared to AED 9.5 trillion during the same period in 2023. Out of the total transfers, AED 7.03 trillion were between banks and AED 4.1 trillion were transfers between bank customers.

Remittances in 2024 were as follows: AED 1.512 trillion in January, AED 1.449 trillion in February, AED 1.565 trillion in March, AED 1.592 trillion in April, AED 1.78 trillion in May, AED 1.42 trillion in June, and AED 1.81 trillion in July.

The Central Bank's data showed that the total value of cheques cleared using images reached AED765.08 billion, covering over 13 million cheques in the first seven months of 2024.