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ABU DHABI / WAM
Current account balances and deposits of the UAE Central Bank with banks abroad rose 54.7 percent or AED80.8 billion in the first ten months of the year to AED228.7 billion from AED147.8 billion in the same corresponding period last year, according to figures released by the Central Bank.
The sustained, robust growth of foreign deposits since January 2017 demonstrates the vibrancy of the country’s banking system in general, showed the monitoring mechanism of the foreign holdings. ‘‘May 2017 saw the highest rate of growth of 26.6 percent, or AED45.3 billion, in foreign deposits to AED215.7 billion as compared to AED170.4 billion in April,’’ the Central Bank noted.
The Central Bank had earlier said that its reserve of gold bars reached AED1.129 billion by the end of October, which marked a growth of 11.2 percent from AED1.015 billion that was recorded by the end of 2016. The month of April 2017 saw the CB resuming gold holdings after eight years during which the banks’ reserves were
confined to a foreign currency basket.