UAE – Mubasher: Banks operating in the UAE have invested AED 10.3 billion in bonds during the first eight months of 2019, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

Accordingly, the banks’ total investments rose by 12.7% year-on-year to AED 91.2 billion at the end of August 2019, according to WAM.

Meanwhile, the balance of the banks’ investments in bonds to maturity accounted for nearly 23.7% of the total value of their investments in all investment products totalled AED 384.3 billion, statistics by the CBUAE showed.

At the end of March 2019, the banking sector's investments in bonds have raised the value of their total investments to AED 89.7 billion, compared to AED 81.2 billion at the end of December 2018.

The banks have been boosting their investments in bonds since the beginning of 2019 to offset losses resulted from a decrease in proceeds from their other investment instruments, including loans.

In August, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has cut its key interest rate for the second time this year due to a similar act done by the US Federal Reserve.