Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The surplus in foreign assets held with local UAE banks reached AED 58 billion ($15.79 billion) by the end of September 2018 compared to December 2017, data released on Monday showed.

Total foreign assets held with local banks reached AED 575.3 billion by 30 September 2018, up 20% from AED 97 billion registered on 31 December 2017, statistics by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) showed.

As for foreign provisions held with national banks, these amounted to AED 517.3 billion by the end of September compared to AED 502.3 billion in December 2017.

Foreign assets held by national UAE banks represent around 24% of their total assets amounting to AED 2.47 trillion and around 20.5% of total assets held with the CBUAE.

The continued rise in foreign assets held by UAE national banks reflects the UAE banking sector’s strong financial solvency in general, banking sector analysts have said, noting that the sector is now rated among the region’s strongest.

Data released by the CBUAE also showed that foreign assets held with local banks have begun rising since the start of 2018, having risen by AED 16.8 billion in Q1-18, then AED 27.5 billion in Q2-18 to AED 522.6 billion.