The Board of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), chaired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister, held its second meeting of the year today.

It noted that the UAE’s financial system has remained resilient despite extraordinary global and regional market conditions, with no material impact on the health of the banking sector or payment systems.

The Board approved a Financial Institution Resilience Package to strengthen the stability and resilience of the UAE banking sector.

The package allows banks greater access to liquidity and flexibility to utilise capital buffers to support the economy.

The package includes five key pillars:

Monetary Policy Measures

Enhanced access to reserve balances up to 30% of the cash reserve requirement, and availability of term liquidity facilities in AED and USD.

Liquidity and Funding Relief

Temporary relief on liquidity and stable funding ratios.

Capital Buffer Relief

Temporary release of the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) and Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB).

Credit Risk Management

Flexibility to postpone the classification of loans for customers affected by exceptional circumstances.

Additional Support

Continued provision of financing services to support customers and the national economy.

The CBUAE highlighted strong fundamentals within the banking sector, with foreign exchange reserves exceeding AED 1 trillion (US$270 billion) and a monetary base cover ratio of 119%.

Total liquidity held by UAE banks at the CBUAE, combined with net eligible assets, reached approximately AED 920 billion (US$250 billion), with reserve balances exceeding AED 400 billion (US$109 billion).

The Board reaffirmed its readiness to deploy policy tools to safeguard financial stability and maintain the contribution of the UAE’s financial sector to the national economy.

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