Corona has hit the largest bank in the emirate ... Emirates NBD begins a new round of job cuts

Three sources said that Emirates NBD - the largest bank in Dubai - started cutting hundreds of jobs this week after the impact of the Corona Virus crisis accelerated planned layoffs.

Although the full size of the job cut plan was not yet clear, one source estimated that Emirates NBD would terminate the services of about 10% of its employees, equivalent to about 800 people.

The sources added to Reuters that the majority of those who will be included in the reduction work in the Emirates.

Emirates NBD said - in a statement sent to Reuters - that the recent developments have had a significant impact on the economy, the financial services sector and the bank.

He added, "This means giving up some of our colleagues because we appreciate the appropriate size to meet our expected future business needs, especially in light of the economic forecasts that indicate difficult times ahead."

"We remain optimistic that with the opening of the UAE economy, Emirates NBD will have the right structure to continue to support customers and help companies grow and thrive," the bank added.

Another source said the job cuts would likely include employees from the private banking arm and other parts of Emirates NBD.

"It (job cuts) was already in the plan for 2020, especially with the bank's digitization, but the effect of the Corona virus accelerated this," one source said.

Emirates NBD announced that its profits in the first quarter of this year decreased by 24%.

The credit rating agency Moody's changed its outlook for 8 banks in the UAE, including Emirates NBD, to negative this month, attributing this to "a difficult operating environment in the UAE due to the corona virus outbreak and low oil prices and pre-existing economic challenges," and also said that allocations Impairment has increased in anticipation of declining credit quality.

And yesterday, Fitch Ratings said that the profitability of UAE banks will be affected this year under the pressure of the Krone pandemic, and indicated that the credit prospects of Emirates banks are likely to weaken in 2020 due to the Corona crisis and the decline in oil prices.

Even before the Corona crisis, Emirati banks laid off 930 employees and closed 49 local branches in the third quarter of 2019, against the backdrop of mergers in the sector and cost-cutting measures.