UAE banking sector assets rise to AED 5.57 trillion in April 2026
UAE banking sector assets rose to AED 5.57 trillion at end‑April 2026 as credit and resident deposits increased, while M1 and the monetary base showed mixed monthly movements.
The UAE banking sector assets, including bank acceptances, reached AED 5.57 trillion at the end of April 2026, a 0.2% increase from AED 5.556 trillion at the end of March, the Central Bank’s April monetary and banking developments report showed. Total bank credit rose by AED 25.2 billion, or 0.9%, to AED 2.721 trillion, driven largely by local lending activity and stronger household borrowing.
Assets and aggregate credit movement
The latest data showed a modest expansion in aggregate banking assets, underpinned by growth in lending and resident deposits. Total credit was the main contributor to the month‑on‑month increase, with the stock of loans and advances edging higher across most sectors.
All principal sectors recorded positive contributions to the credit expansion except for other financial institutions, which registered no net contribution during April. The rise in assets was measured alongside relatively stable non‑resident deposits, indicating domestic funding as the principal source of the uptick.
Private sector and household lending lead local credit
Local credit climbed by AED 18.5 billion in April, with lending to the private sector — and households in particular — the primary driver. Consumer and mortgage lending accounted for much of the household increase, with personal loans and housing finance showing notable month‑on‑month gains.
Government‑related entities also saw a meaningful rise in borrowing, with credit to these entities increasing by AED 7.7 billion, or 2.3%, which contributed around 0.4 percentage points to local credit growth. Lending to the central government and corporates each added modest positive contributions to the monthly expansion.
Resident deposits fuel deposit growth
Total bank deposits rose 0.7% in April to AED 3.469 trillion, up from AED 3.446 trillion at the end of March, supported entirely by a rise in resident deposits. Resident deposits increased 0.7% to AED 3.162 trillion, while non‑resident balances remained steady at AED 307.6 billion.
The private sector posted the largest contribution to resident deposit growth, with its balances rising 1.4% to AED 2.31 trillion and adding roughly one percentage point to the monthly increase. Government deposits also expanded significantly, climbing 4.6% to AED 446.8 billion and accounting for about 0.6 percentage points of the resident deposit gain.
Shifts in specific depositor groups and implications
Not all depositor categories contributed positively; deposits held by government‑related entities fell sharply, down 6.6% to AED 339.3 billion, subtracting around 0.8 percentage points from overall deposit growth. Deposits from other financial institutions also declined by 6.6% to AED 65.6 billion, further tempering the monthly increase.
These shifts reflect changing liquidity preferences across institutional and public‑sector entities and emphasize the growing importance of household and corporate deposits in supporting bank funding in the current period.
Money supply, monetary base and reserve movements
Narrow money (M1) contracted by 0.8% from AED 1.072 trillion at end‑March to AED 1.064 trillion at end‑April, reflecting a fall in demand deposits and currency in circulation. In contrast, broad money (M2) remained effectively unchanged at AED 2.87 trillion, as increases in private sector deposits offset declines in other institutional balances.
Broadest measure M3 was steady at AED 3.407 trillion, supported by stable government deposit levels. The monetary base retreated 1.6% to AED 865.8 billion, driven by a substantial 26.3% reduction in required reserves and declines in Islamic interbank certificates and currency issued. This weakening of the base was partly offset by a 50.5% surge in banks’ current accounts and overnight deposits held at the central bank.
Payments traffic and central bank gold holdings
Payments data showed robust activity during the first four months of 2026, with the cumulative value of transfers processed through the UAE Funds Transfer System reaching AED 9.384 trillion. Banks executed AED 5.7 trillion of those transfers, while other participants accounted for approximately AED 3.68 trillion.
April alone recorded AED 2.723 trillion in transfer value, split between AED 1.645 trillion processed by banks and AED 1.078 trillion by non‑bank participants. Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s statistical release recorded a 2% rise in its gold holdings to AED 40.816 billion at end‑April, up from about AED 40.0 billion at the end of March.
The April figures signal continued domestic economic activity and payment system throughput, even as the monetary aggregates show mixed monthly dynamics.
The Central Bank’s April report indicates an economy supported by household and corporate deposit growth and a credit expansion led by private‑sector lending, while shifts in reserve composition and certain institutional deposits moderated broader liquidity measures.