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According to the Emirates News Agency, the CBUAE Governor convened CEOs of banks operating in the UAE to discuss banking sector performance in a high-level meeting. The session enabled direct engagement on prevailing economic conditions and the contributions of financial institutions to national development goals. Coordination between the regulator and industry leaders remains central to sustaining stability across the system.
The Central Bank of the UAE issued its Financial Stability Report 2025 in August 2026, affirming the strength and resilience of the UAE financial and banking system. The UAE banking system’s total assets increased by 17.1% to AED 5.3 trillion at the end of 2025 while the loan portfolio expanded by 17.8%, primarily driven by increased domestic lending particularly across the retail and private corporate segments.[[1]](https://centralbank.ae/media/q0tfx3ay/cbuae-issues-financial-stability-report-2025-affirming-the-strength-and-resilience-of-the-uae-financial-system-en.pdf) The CBUAE assessment found that these gains occurred amid positive performance of the UAE economy.
Asset quality indicators continued to improve with the non-performing loan ratio declining to 3.3% in 2025 compared to 4.7% in 2024, a CBUAE assessment found. The banking system maintained adequate capitalisation with the Capital Adequacy Ratio at 17.0% at the end of 2025 remaining well above minimum regulatory requirements. The results of the 2025 supervisory stress tests confirmed the banking sector’s resilience to severe economic and financial shocks with the average Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio staying above required thresholds under an adverse scenario.
Net profits increased by 11.7% to AED 90.8 billion in 2025 supported by growth in total operating income, CBUAE figures show. The system also maintained strong liquidity backed by continued deposit growth. The report highlighted the continued resilience of the insurance sector Islamic banking and ongoing development of financial infrastructure under the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme.
The UAE’s ten largest banks delivered resilient performance in the second quarter of 2026 with return on equity rising to 18.9% according to Alvarez & Marsal’s UAE Banking Pulse. Net loans and advances grew by 4.2% quarter-on-quarter while aggregate deposits grew by 2.3%. The non-performing loans ratio remained at a historically low 2.3% with the cost of risk improving to 0.35%.
UAE bank credit growth has continued to outpace regional peers with gross credit up 18% from a year earlier, central bank data shows. Foreign loans rose 38% year on year reaching AED 582 billion by June 2026. Major banks have revised full-year forecasts upward with sector credit now expected to expand between 15% and 20% in 2026.
