The overall assets of commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates swelled to AED 2.457 trillion by the end of September 2019, revealed statistics by the Central Bank of the UAE. Nearly AED 173 billion of this figure was recorded over a nine-month period and accounted for 81.3 percent of the UAE banks’ total assets.

Up to 19.7 percent of these assets are owned by Shariah-compliant banks, reported WAM – the official new agency of the UAE.

The combined total assets of Islamic and commercial banks exceeded AED 3.022 trillion by the end of September. There are 59 banks operating in the UAE, 51 of which are commercial and eight Shariah-compliant, stated the banking regulator.

The asset growth was driven by a significant rise in deposits from AED 1.354 trillion in December 2018 to AED 1.406.4 trillion in September 2019.

Retail loans provided by commercial banks amounted to around AED 1.2 trillion, making up 78.6 percent of total banks’ credit. Nearly 22.4 percent of this, equivalent to AED 367.3 billion, were provided by Islamic banks.

The report added, the Islamic banks’ assets are down to AED 565.7 billion by the end of September from AED 582.6 billion by the end of December 2018.