UAE banks’ investments rise 2% in January to AED872.3 billion, central bank says

Investments by banks operating in the United Arab Emirates rose 2% in January from the previous month, increasing by AED16.9 billion to reach AED872.3 billion by the end of the month, according to banking indicators issued by the Central Bank and reported by the state news agency WAM on Wednesday.

On an annual basis, bank investments grew 17.4% compared with January 2025, the data showed.

Banks’ investments in securities representing debt on others climbed to AED418.6 billion at the end of January. That marked annual growth of 26% and a monthly increase of 3.1%, according to the Central Bank figures cited by WAM.

Bonds held to maturity rose 10.5% year-on-year and 0.8% month-on-month to AED371.1 billion.

Banks’ investments in equities increased 31.9% annually and 3.3% monthly to reach AED25.2 billion.

Other investments recorded a 0.9% monthly increase, reaching AED57.4 billion by the end of January, the data showed.

Separate banking operations statistics indicated that transfers executed through the UAE Funds Transfer System reached approximately AED2.08 trillion in January.

Of that total, around AED1.21 trillion consisted of transfers carried out by banks, while about AED864.6 billion was executed by customers, according to the Central Bank data reported by WAM.

The statistics also showed that the value of cheques processed using image-based clearing rose to AED125.2 billion across 1.95 million cheques during the month.

The Central Bank publishes regular indicators on banking sector activity in the UAE, a major financial hub in the Gulf region.