As per the Central Bank of the UAE’s Monetary and Banking Developments Report for April 2026, total assets of the Gulf major’s banking sector, including bankers’ acceptances, increased by 0.2% to AED5.57 trillion, compared with AED5.556 trillion at the end of March.
The report also showed that gross bank credit rose by AED25.2 billion, or 0.9%, to AED2.721 trillion at the end of April, compared with AED2.695 trillion at the end of March.
While all major sectors, except other financial corporations, contributed positively to this growth, the increase in the UAE’s gross credit was driven by a rise in domestic credit of AED18.5 billion. The main reason was the higher lending to the private sector, particularly individuals, with credit increasing by AED6.2 billion and contributing around 0.3 percentage points to domestic credit growth. As per the Central Bank of the UAE, this increase was mainly supported by housing loans, followed by personal consumer loans.
“Credit to government-related entities increased by AED7.7 billion, or 2.3%, contributing approximately 0.4 percentage points to domestic credit growth. Credit extended to both the government and corporate sectors also recorded positive contributions, each adding 0.1 percentage points to the monthly increase in domestic credit. On the deposits side, bank deposits increased by 0.7% to AED3.469 trillion at the end of April, compared with AED3.446 trillion at the end of March. This growth was entirely driven by a 0.7% increase in resident deposits to AED3.162 trillion, while non-resident deposits remained broadly unchanged at AED307.6 billion,” the report noted.
“The private sector recorded the largest contribution to the growth in resident deposits, with deposits rising by 1.4% to AED2.31 trillion, contributing around one percentage point to overall monthly growth. Government sector deposits also increased by 4.6% to AED446.8 billion, contributing around 0.6 percentage points to resident deposit growth,” it stated further.
In contrast, deposits of UAE government-related entities declined by 6.6% to AED339.3 billion, reducing growth by around 0.8 percentage points. Deposits of other financial corporations also fell by 6.6% to AED65.6 billion, subtracting a further 0.1 percentage points from growth.
“Regarding monetary aggregates, M1 decreased by 0.8 percent from AED1.072 trillion at the end of March 2026 to AED1.064 trillion at the end of April, due to a 0.9% decline in monetary deposits, equivalent to AED8 billion, and a 0.2% decrease in currency in circulation outside banks, equivalent to around AED0.4 billion,” the central bank remarked.
M2, on the other hand, remained broadly unchanged at AED2.87 trillion compared with AED2.869 trillion at the end of March, as higher deposits from private sector-linked individuals and corporations offset declines in deposits of other financial corporations and government-related entities. Corporate deposits contributed around 0.7 percentage points to monthly M2 growth, while the decline in government-related entity deposits reduced growth by around 0.8 percentage points.