UAE lending, deposits up in Q1

Lending in the country rose 0.3 per cent, while deposits increased by 7.1 in the first three months of the year, according to the UAE Central Bank. Loans rose 0.2 per cent month-on-month in March to Dh1.074 trillion, while bank deposits increased by 3.3 per cent to Dh1.146 trillion over the same period. Total bank deposits increased by 3.3 per cent during the month of March 2012 to close at Dh1.146 trillion. Money supply aggregate M1 — which comprises currency in circulation plus monetary deposits, i.e., current accounts and call accounts at banks — increased by 1.4 per cent, from Dh276.3 billion at the end of February 2012 to Dh280.2 billion at the end of March of the same year. Money supply aggregate M2 — which includes M1 and resident time and savings deposits in dirhams, commercial prepayments in dirhams and resident deposits in foreign currencies — increased by 2.8 per cent, from Dh856.3 billion at the end of February 2012 to Dh880.4 billion at the end of March of the same year. Money supply aggregate, M3 — which includes M2 plus government deposits at bank operating in the UAE as well as at the central bank — rose 3.8 per cent, to Dh1.075 trillion at end of March from Dh1.036 trillion at the end of February.