Abu Dhabi: The total foreign currency assets held by the Central Bank of the UAE rose 5.9 per cent in November, as current account balances went up and deposits with foreign banks strengthened.
At the same time, there appears to be more money in circulation in the UAE, with the country's monetary base reaching an 11-month high.
The banking authority’s foreign assets reached Dh346.3 billion last month, up from Dh327 billion in October.
The value of current account balances and deposits with foreign banks strengthened to Dh275.6 billion against Dh256.3 billion, according to the figures released by the banking authority on Monday.
The foreign assets exclude the UAE Central Bank’s reserve tranche position and special drawing rights holdings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Monetary aggregates, which include currency in circulation outside the banks, plus monetary deposits and quasi-deposits and government deposits, referred to as M3, continued to increase in November and hit around Dh1.593 trillion against Dh1.566 trillion in October.
Government deposits amounted to Dh305.1 billion in November, while monetary deposits hit Dh409 billion, and quasi-monetary deposits stood at Dh809 billion.
The central bank also reported that the UAE monetary base expanded 6 per cent to an 11-month high of Dh371.6 billion by the end of November from Dh350.6 billion by the end of October.
The certificates of deposits purchased by banks, however, slightly declined to Dh125.8 billion, with banks’ required reserves amounting to Dh121.8 billion.
Current accounts of banks at the UAE Central Bank multiplied to Dh36.3 billion during November, up from Dh18.2 billion by the end of October.
A monetary base is the total amount of a currency that is either in general circulation in the hands of the public or in the commercial bank deposits held in the central bank’s reserves.
From WAM
