The Central Bank of the UAE reported on October 7 that domestic credit grew 18.8% in the year to August. Bank assets rose 12.9%, deposits rose 13%, and the non-performing loan ratio fell to 2.6%. Governor Khaled Mohamed Balama credited the strength of the financial system and its supervision.
The same release updated the Financial Institutions Resilience Package, which the central bank launched on March 17 in response to the regional conflict. By late August it had deferred or waived AED 15.9 billion ($4.33 billion) in loan payments and fees for more than 155,000 borrowers. Most of it, AED 10.7 billion, went to 849 large private companies. Small and medium-sized businesses received AED 2.9 billion.
A payment on hold can't go delinquent, so none of that relief shows up in the 2.6%. I wanted to know how the banks carrying those loans have been staffing while the deferrals run. Emirates NBD has been doing something different from the rest.