AED13.5 billion in loans benefit from repayment deferrals in UAE

The comprehensive proactive support package to enhance the resilience of financial institutions, adopted by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) in March 2026, enabled repayment deferrals on loans totalling AED13.5 billion for affected bank customers.

A total of 135,031 customers benefited from the measure, as part of the CBUAE’s prudential approach to strengthening the resilience of the banking sector and proactively managing asset quality.

According to data issued by the CBUAE today, the value of loans benefiting from instalment repayment deferrals as of 30th July was distributed as follows: AED9.1 billion for large corporates, AED2.4 billion for small and medium-sized enterprises, and AED2 billion for individuals.

The number of beneficiaries included 127,753 individuals, 6,198 small and medium-sized enterprises, and 1,080 large corporates.

The data confirmed the continued strength of the banking sector, with assets rising by 12.5 percent, loans by 18.1 percent and deposits by 14 percent as of 30th June, 2026, compared with the same period in 2025, reflecting the sector’s continued resilience and growth.

In a related context, the UAE banking sector achieved its best asset quality levels by the end of the second quarter of 2026, supported by a significant decline in the stock of non-performing loans as a result of targeted supervisory measures taken by the CBUAE, reflecting the strength of the financial system.

The non-performing loan ratio declined to 2.8 percent by the end of the second quarter of 2026, its lowest level on record, compared with 8.2 percent in 2020, representing a decrease of 5.4 percentage points.

The net non-performing loan ratio also fell to a record level of 1.3 percent, compared with 3.6 percent in 2020, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points.

The stock of non-performing loans declined to AED76 billion by the end of the second quarter of 2026, compared with AED84 billion in the first quarter of this year and AED142 billion in 2020.

The CBUAE explained that this improvement resulted from a package of regulatory and supervisory measures, including intensive inspections and comprehensive asset quality reviews, enhanced dialogue with industry representatives and risk officers, and the implementation of credit risk management regulations and standards.

The measures also included developing guidelines for the write-off and recovery of non-performing loans in line with international best practices and standards.