Bank balances across the country grew by more than Dh28.1 billion (US$7.65bn) in the past two months in a spike analysts believe could be due to a trickle down of financial support for the heavily indebted Dubai World conglomerate.
Deposits grew at their fastest in eight months, increasing by Dh13.5bn to reach Dh998.9bn last month from June, data released by the Central Bank yesterday showed.
"One possibility is that this increase is related to the bailout of Nakheel and funding of the Dubai Financial Support Fund," said Raj Madha, the senior banking analyst at Rasmala Investments in Dubai.
"We were expecting Nakheel to get funding in the second quarter and it is likely this would have come from the Central Bank sources transferred from outside the financial system."
The absence of strong loan growth to support the rise in deposits further reinforced the suggestion that the money was from an injection of government cash, he said.
A property market slowdown in Dubai linked to the global credit crunch prompted a series of Government assistance packages to help the repayment of debts owed by the troubled conglomerate Dubai World, including its property unit Nakheel.
Local and international banks have suffered from their exposure to the financial crisis.
The Dubai Government offered $8bn of new funds in March to assist Nakheel in repaying its creditors. Nakheel has since agreed on terms with its main lenders.
Nakheel said yesterday it had repaid about Dh2.5bn owed to creditors last month.
Dubai borrowed $10bn from Abu Dhabi in December after receiving another $10bn in February last year from the Central Bank to boost liquidity in the emirate.
Specific provisions for non-performing loans and general provisions combined rose by Dh1.4bn last month from June, according to the Central Bank data.
"It could be that the smaller banks did not provision well in the second quarter and are playing catch-up in the third quarter," said Mr Madha.
Other data from the Central Bank showed M1 money supply, the narrowest measure of money in the financial system, eased to an annual 5.3 per cent growth rate last month from 6.3 per cent in June.
M2 money supply, which includes time and savings deposits, grew 5.2 per cent last month after 5.4 per cent growth in June.
M3 money growth, the widest money supply gauge, slowed to 2 per cent last month from 2.1 per cent in June.
tarnold@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The%20specs
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets