Gross banks’ assets increased to AED5,472.5b at end of February 2026

ABU DHABI / WAM

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) announced an increase in money supply aggregate M1 by 1.7 percent, from AED1,081.3 billion at the end of January 2026 to AED1,099.8 billion at the end of February 2026.
The increase was supported by an increase in currency in circulation outside banks by 1.4 percent and in monetary deposits by 1.8 percent.
The money supply aggregate M2 increased by 2.4 percent in February 2026, rising from AED2,789.8 billion at the end of January to AED2,856.8 billion at the end of February 2026. This growth was mainly driven by AED48.5 billion increase in Quasi-Monetary Deposits. The corporate sector made the largest contribution, with deposits rising by 2.1 percent and accounting for 1.0 p.p. of the overall M2 growth.
Individuals’ deposits also increased significantly, up by 5.3 percent and contributing 0.8 p.p. Deposits from Government-Related Entities (GREs) grew by 1.8 percent, adding 0.2 percentage points to M2 growth, primarily due to higher AED demand and savings deposits. Other Financial Corporations (OFC) deposits contributed positively to M2 growth, recorded increase by 13.0 percent (mostly foreign currency demand deposits).
The money supply aggregate M3 increased by 1.6 percent, rising from AED3,301.5 billion at the end of January 2026 to AED3,353.7 billion at the end of February 2026.
Government sector deposits recorded a monthly decrease of 2.9 percent, reaching AED496.9 billion, and contributed negatively to M3 growth by 0.4 p.p. Despite this decline, the overall increase in M3 reflects the positive contributions from other deposit categories, which offset the reduction in government sector deposits.
The monetary base increased by 2.0 percent, from AED900.8 billion at the end of January 2026 to AED918.6 billion at the end of February 2026.
The increase was driven by the growth in: Banks & OFCs Current Accounts & Overnight Deposits of Banks by 33.6 percent, Reserve Requirements by 1.1 percent and currency issued by 0.6 percent. Monetary Bills & Islamic Certificates of Deposit decreased by 4.3 percent, which moderated the growth of overall aggregate.
Gross banks’ assets increased by 1.1 percent from AED5,413.6 billion at the end of January 2026 to AED5,472.5 billion at the end of February 2026.
Gross credit increased by 1.2 percent, rising from AED2,598.2 billion at the end of January 2026 to AED2,630.6 billion at the end of February 2026. This overall growth was primarily supported by AED20.6 billion increase in domestic credit. The main driver was credit to the private sector, which grew by 1.3 percent and contributed 0.8 p.p. to the total gross credit growth.
A smaller positive contribution came from credit to GREs, which increased by 1.1 percent, adding 0.2 p.p. However, the growth in domestic credit was partially offset by a decline in credit to the Government sector, which fell by 1.1 percent for the second consecutive month, resulting in a negative contribution of 0.1 p.p to overall domestic credit growth.
Banks’ deposits increased by 1.9 percent, from AED3,336.8 billion at the end of January 2026 to AED3,400.0 billion at the end of February 2026. The increase in banks’ deposits was driven mostly by the growth in resident deposits by 1.7 percent reaching AED3,098.2 billion (contributing 1.6 p.p.), while non-resident deposits grew by 3.8 percent reaching AED301.8 billion.
Within the resident deposits, the biggest contribution (1.6 p.p.) came from private sector deposits increase by 2.2 percent reaching 2,322.0 billion, while GRE and OFC deposits positively contributed the same (by 0.2 p.p.), while recording increase by 1.8 percent and 10.3 percent respectively. At the same time, government sector deposits decreased by 2.3 percent settling at AED392.0 billion, at the end of February 2026.