UAE's banking sector liquid assets jump by 28.2% in first quarter of 2024

Abu Dhabi: The liquid assets in the UAE banking sector stood at AED786.6 billion at the end of Q1-24, marking a year-on-year increase of 28.2 per cent, or AED172.8 billion, compared to approximately AED613.8 billion at the end of Q12023.

In its report on key financial stability indicators for Q1-24, released on Saturday, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) stated that the value of these liquid assets increased on a quarterly (q-o-q) basis by 5.7 per cent, or AED42.7 billion, compared to approximately AED743.95 billion at the end of the Q4-23.

The value of these assets constituted 18.8 per cent of the total banking sector assets, which amounted to AED4.185 trillion at the end of Q1-24, up from 18.6 per cent at the end of Q4-23.

CBUAE pointed out that the UAE banking system is well-capitalised, with the overall capital adequacy ratio reaching 18 per cent by end of Q1-24, compared to 17.9 per cent at the end of Q4-23.

It explained that the capital adequacy ratio is still significantly higher than the minimum capital adequacy requirement of 13 per cent, which includes a capital conservation buffer of 2.5% and a minimum Tier 1 capital requirement of 8.5 per cent, as stipulated in the Central Bank's regulations in compliance with the Basel III guidelines, which have been followed by banks in the UAE since December 2017.