Company Insights Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates Banking and Finance Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates News Analysis Finance ‘Hi, this is your bank…’ Inside the war on payment fraud “Hello. This is the Central Bank of the UAE. We are contacting you because you need to surrender your debit card.” The call comes from a conventional mobile number while you’re on the way home from work. Welcome to the scamdemic – claim your prize, share your one-time password, update your bank details, click […] August 9, 2023 Finance UAE’s Al Ansari set to buy majority stake in Omani firm UAE remittance and foreign exchange house Al Ansari Financial Services has proposed to acquire a majority stake in an exchange company in Oman as part of its regional expansion plan. The acquisition is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and due diligence, the company said in a statement on Monday. It is expected to be […] August 7, 2023 Banking and Finance Gulf central banks follow US Fed by lifting key rates Most GCC central banks have increased their interest rates in line with the US Federal Reserve decision to hike rates by a quarter of a percentage point. The Fed raised its rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, the highest US central bank policy rate in 16 years due to elevated inflation. The central […] July 27, 2023 Economy Tax revenues fail to offset $4bn drop in UAE federal balance The UAE federal government’s balance sheet decreased by nearly $4 billion, or 38 percent, year on year in the first quarter of 2023, even though tax revenues rose 12 percent. Data from the UAE Government Finance Statistics Report for the first quarter of 2023, published on Tuesday by the UAE Ministry of Finance, found that […] July 26, 2023 Banking and Finance UAE and India agree to settle trade in local currencies The central banks of the UAE and India have signed a framework to promote using the rupee and dirham for cross-border transactions. The agreement was signed during a visit by Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, to the Gulf state on Saturday. The two countries also decided to set up a real-time payment link to facilitate […] July 16, 2023 Real Estate UAE changes bank rules for Emirati mortgage holders The Central Bank of the UAE has introduced new mortgage repayment rules for citizens this week as a response to rising interest rates. Customers who have a monthly income of AED40,000 ($10,890) or more will now have their mortgage repayments capped at 60 percent of their present salary. Banks were previously only allowed to deduct […] July 5, 2023 Economy UAE’s 2023 economic outlook remains ‘positive’ says IMF The UAE’s economic outlook remains ‘positive’, underpinned by strong domestic activity, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. The country’s GDP is slated to grow at 3.6 percent in 2023, with non-hydrocarbon growth of 3.8 percent driven by continued tourism activity and higher capital expenditure, the Washington-based fund said in a statement. The outlook remains […] June 27, 2023 Banking and Finance Gulf central banks mirror US Fed by halting rate hike The Central Bank of the UAE and Qatar Central Bank have decided to maintain interest rates after the US Federal Reserve board announced it will keep the key borrowing rates unchanged. The UAE’s central bank will hold the base rate applicable to the overnight deposit facility steady at 5.15 percent as of Thursday 15 June, the […] June 15, 2023 Banking and Finance Dubai’s debt burden set to tumble to 51% of GDP Dubai’s government debt is forecast to fall to 51 percent of GDP this year, according to S&P Global Ratings, after the emirate repaid some of its outstanding bonds and loans. The figure is down 27 percentage points from a 2020 peak, the ratings agency wrote in a report published on Monday. Yet broader public sector […] May 24, 2023 Economy Fed may pause rate hikes after latest increase The US Federal Reserve has hinted that it may be time to pause interest rate hikes after announcing its tenth consecutive increase since March 2022. As widely expected the Fed has raised its target interest rate by 25 basis points (bps), with the majority of Gulf central banks, whose currencies are pegged to the US […] May 4, 2023 Posts navigation Previous 1 … 5 6 7 … 9 Next
Analysis Finance ‘Hi, this is your bank…’ Inside the war on payment fraud “Hello. This is the Central Bank of the UAE. We are contacting you because you need to surrender your debit card.” The call comes from a conventional mobile number while you’re on the way home from work. Welcome to the scamdemic – claim your prize, share your one-time password, update your bank details, click […] August 9, 2023
Finance UAE’s Al Ansari set to buy majority stake in Omani firm UAE remittance and foreign exchange house Al Ansari Financial Services has proposed to acquire a majority stake in an exchange company in Oman as part of its regional expansion plan. The acquisition is subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and due diligence, the company said in a statement on Monday. It is expected to be […] August 7, 2023
Banking and Finance Gulf central banks follow US Fed by lifting key rates Most GCC central banks have increased their interest rates in line with the US Federal Reserve decision to hike rates by a quarter of a percentage point. The Fed raised its rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, the highest US central bank policy rate in 16 years due to elevated inflation. The central […] July 27, 2023
Economy Tax revenues fail to offset $4bn drop in UAE federal balance The UAE federal government’s balance sheet decreased by nearly $4 billion, or 38 percent, year on year in the first quarter of 2023, even though tax revenues rose 12 percent. Data from the UAE Government Finance Statistics Report for the first quarter of 2023, published on Tuesday by the UAE Ministry of Finance, found that […] July 26, 2023
Banking and Finance UAE and India agree to settle trade in local currencies The central banks of the UAE and India have signed a framework to promote using the rupee and dirham for cross-border transactions. The agreement was signed during a visit by Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, to the Gulf state on Saturday. The two countries also decided to set up a real-time payment link to facilitate […] July 16, 2023
Real Estate UAE changes bank rules for Emirati mortgage holders The Central Bank of the UAE has introduced new mortgage repayment rules for citizens this week as a response to rising interest rates. Customers who have a monthly income of AED40,000 ($10,890) or more will now have their mortgage repayments capped at 60 percent of their present salary. Banks were previously only allowed to deduct […] July 5, 2023
Economy UAE’s 2023 economic outlook remains ‘positive’ says IMF The UAE’s economic outlook remains ‘positive’, underpinned by strong domestic activity, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. The country’s GDP is slated to grow at 3.6 percent in 2023, with non-hydrocarbon growth of 3.8 percent driven by continued tourism activity and higher capital expenditure, the Washington-based fund said in a statement. The outlook remains […] June 27, 2023
Banking and Finance Gulf central banks mirror US Fed by halting rate hike The Central Bank of the UAE and Qatar Central Bank have decided to maintain interest rates after the US Federal Reserve board announced it will keep the key borrowing rates unchanged. The UAE’s central bank will hold the base rate applicable to the overnight deposit facility steady at 5.15 percent as of Thursday 15 June, the […] June 15, 2023
Banking and Finance Dubai’s debt burden set to tumble to 51% of GDP Dubai’s government debt is forecast to fall to 51 percent of GDP this year, according to S&P Global Ratings, after the emirate repaid some of its outstanding bonds and loans. The figure is down 27 percentage points from a 2020 peak, the ratings agency wrote in a report published on Monday. Yet broader public sector […] May 24, 2023
Economy Fed may pause rate hikes after latest increase The US Federal Reserve has hinted that it may be time to pause interest rate hikes after announcing its tenth consecutive increase since March 2022. As widely expected the Fed has raised its target interest rate by 25 basis points (bps), with the majority of Gulf central banks, whose currencies are pegged to the US […] May 4, 2023
