6.4 billion dirhams injected by banks into the local market during a month

Awatef Al Harmoudi: “The market is thirsty for funding, for the purposes of continuing expansion and making up for the closing period.”

Banks operating in the country pumped more than 6.4 billion dirhams in loans and financing into the economy, during the month of January alone.

And statistics issued by the Central Bank, yesterday, indicated that these funds focused on the local market and residents within the country, while the facilities provided to non-residents declined.

In detail, the data showed that the cumulative balance of the banks' total loan portfolio amounted to one trillion and 800.4 billion dirhams at the end of last January, compared to one trillion and 794 billion dirhams at the end of the previous December, with a monthly increase of 6.4 billion dirhams, equivalent to a growth of 0.4%.

The government sector and large companies received the largest share of bank financing during the comparison month, while financing from individuals amounted to 1.5 billion dirhams.

Banking expert, Awatef Al Harmoudi, told "Emirates Today", "Whoever monitors the market situation in the UAE finds many economic sectors have returned to levels before the spread of the (Corona) pandemic, and this therefore means more employment and a higher demand for financing, Either by companies or individuals.

Al-Harmoudi added: “The market is thirsty for financing, especially the corporate sector, for the purposes of continuing expansion and compensating for the closure period and the negative effects that followed, in addition to that some sectors that witnessed a major recession and layoffs returned to work at full capacity, such as the tourism, aviation, retail and other sectors, and employees settled It has and returned the deductions from the salaries to their owners again, all of which undoubtedly stimulates the movement of demand for borrowing.”

She pointed out that "the banks also eased the strict financing conditions that they set during the (Corona) crisis after the return of economic activity, and there is a greater scope for those qualified to take financing, especially personal loans, car financing and credit cards, or what is known as retail sales."

And she indicated that "the beginning of the year also witnessed banks submitting offers on the financing price and a reduction or exemption from transaction fees, which encouraged stimulating demand and increasing sales."

And she added, "The beginning of this year also witnessed the easing of precautionary measures, which contributed to the return of many of the activities that had stopped, and thus the completion of the work of all aspects of the economy at full capacity, which created a great impetus in the operational activity of banks represented in granting financing."

Al-Harmoudi said, "The (Corona) period and its aftermath made the banks focus more on the local market, as it is the most priority for them and the least risky, so we find an increase in local financing and a decline in its counterpart for non-residents in the country."

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news