Credit facilities provided by the UAE national banks to the business and industrial sectors amounted to AED15.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest figures released by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE).

The apex bank’s figures showed that the two sectors saw a 2.1 percent rise in cumulative credit balance to AED757.4 billion by the end of March 2024 from AED741.8 billion by the end of December 2023.

The cumulative credit balance provided to these two sectors grew by AED9.3 billion or 1.24 percent from AED748.1 billion in February, a YoY growth of 3.02 percent, or AED22.2 billion, from AED735.2 billion in March 2023.

National banks provide the most credit to the two sectors, totalling AED841.7 billion by the end of Q1-24, or 90 percent of the combined credit balance of the two sectors. Foreign banks have a much smaller share of 10 percent or AED84.3 billion.

The credit balance for the sectors from banks in Abu Dhabi was around AED374.1 billion in Q1-24, while banks in Dubai provided AED363.3 billion, and those in other emirates lent AED104.3 billion to these sectors.

Conventional banks accounted for approximately AED694 billion, or 82.5%, of the credit financing provided to the trade and industry sectors by the end of last March, while the share of Islamic banks reached approximately AED147.7 billion, equivalent to 17.5%.