Dubai – Mubasher: The merger of the small- and medium-sized UAE banks aims to reduce operating costs and administrative expenses, adding to finding big financial entities to be able to compete strongly in the global markets, said a recent report by Truth Economic Consultancy.
Total UAE banks' assets rose 8.1% or AED 148.3 trillion in one year to reach AED 2 billion by the end of 2016.
Bank loans increased 5.7% or AED 64.8 billion to reach AED 1.2 trillion by the end of 2016, the report added.
Total banks' investments levelled up 8.5% year-on-year to AED 282.4 billion by December 2016.
Traders' deposits also hiked 7.3% to reach AED 1.3 trillion by the end of last year, Truth noted.
Moreover, total shareholders' rights grew 16.1% year-on-year to AED 261.6 billion by the end of December 2016.
