Abu Dhabi, UAE–Gross assets of the Sharia-compliant banks in the UAE climbed to $177 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2023, an annual increase of 7.31 percent against about $165 billion in March 2022, according to figures by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).
The apex bank’s statistics reflect an increase in Islamic banks’ credit to $109 billion at the end of March 2023, an annual growth of 2.51 percent compared to nearly $106.30 billion in March 2022, and a month-over-month increase of 0.91%, from $108 billion in February.
The Islamic banks’ deposits rose to $123.45 billion in March 2023, an annual increase of 6.2 percent, from nearly $116.26 billion in March 2022.
The statistics also reported that the total investments of Islamic banks amounted to $30.36 billion by the end of March 2022.
In the meantime, and during the reference period, the UAE-based conventional banks had total assets of $850 billion, up 14.1% from $743 billion in March 2022.
These banks had around 82.7% of the total assets of the UAE’s banking sector by end of March 2023, or $1.02 trillion, while Islamic lenders held 17.3%.