Abu Dhabi, UAE— The banks in the UAE increased their credit facilities for the business and industrial sectors by around $7.73 billion in the first five months of this year.
According to the latest statistics from the Central Bank of the UAE, the two sectors witnessed a 4 percent rise in credit balance from national banks over five months, rising from around $195.28 billion in December 2022 to $203 billion in May 2023.
National banks increased their credit balance for the said sectors by $2.23 billion in May 2023, a monthly increase of 1.11 percent, which was a year-on-year growth of 3.3 percent or $6.50 billion.
National banks provide the most credit to the sectors, totaling $225 billion as of May, or 90.3% of the combined credit balance of the two sectors.
Foreign banks have a much smaller share at 9.7 percent or $21.80 billion.
The credit balance for the sectors from banks in Abu Dhabi was around $100.74 billion as of the end of May, while banks in Dubai provided $96.31 billion, and those in other emirates lent some $27.71billion to these sectors.
Out of the credit facilities worth $224.80 billion that these sectors obtained by the end of last May, traditional banks supplied some $185 billion, accounting for 82.3 percent, while Islamic banks provided about $39.70 billion, representing 17.7 percent of the total.