The Central Bank of the UAE’s “Monetary and Banking Developments – May 2026” report showed that the money supply aggregate M1 amounted to AED1,053.5 billion at the end of May 2026. Currency in circulation outside the Gulf nation’s banks settled at AED167.6 billion, while monetary deposits stood at AED885.9 billion.
The money supply aggregate M2, on the other hand, settled at AED 2,853.9 billion at the end of the month.
“Within Quasi-Money, dirham deposits increased to AED1,135.4 billion, providing a positive contribution to the monthly movement in M2,” the central bank noted.
The money supply aggregate M3, at the end of May 2026, stood at AED3,393.4 billion. Government sector deposits grew to AED539.5 billion during the same period, providing a positive contribution to monthly movement in M3.
“In addition, the monetary base stood at AED848.5 billion at the end of May 2026. Over the month, Reserve Balances of Banks with the CBUAE recorded a notable increase of 49.4%, rising to AED295.4 billion. Gross banks’ assets improved by 1.1% from AED5,570.1 billion at the end of April 2026 to AED5,633.1 billion at the end of May 2026,” the central bank noted.
“In addition, gross credit increased by AED12.3 billion (0.5%), from AED 2,720.7 billion at the end of April 2026 to AED2,733.1 billion at the end of May 2026. The increase in gross credit was driven by an AED13.8 billion rise in domestic credit, while foreign credit had a negative influence, by 0.1 pp, settling at AED562.5 billion,” it added further.
Within domestic credit, all sectors contributed positively to its growth. However, higher lending to the private sector emerged as the main growth driver, notably due to an increase of AED4.6 billion in credit equally to both corporations and individuals, which each contributed 0.2 pp to overall domestic credit growth. In addition, credit to GREs increased by AED3.5 billion (1.0%), contributing 0.2 pp to UAE’s domestic credit growth.
“Furthermore, banks’ deposits stood at AED3,463.4 billion at the end of May 2026. Over the month, non-resident deposits increased by 3.6%, reaching AED318.6 billion. Within resident deposits, positive contributions came from increases in Other Financial Corporations (OFCs) deposits, which improved by 2.4%, reaching AED67.2 billion, and contributed to the overall change by 0.1 pp,” the central bank concluded.