CBUAE’s Financial Stability Report puts numbers behind something many people in the UAE already sense: that banks are lending more freely than they did a few years ago. UAE banking sector assets grew 17.1 percent in 2025 to AED5.3 trillion, worth roughly $1.44 trillion. Loans rose faster still, up 17.8 percent. Most of that credit stayed inside the country. Retail customers and private companies took on the bulk of it.
For anyone who has applied for a mortgage, a car loan, or working capital for a small shop, this is what a growing loan book feels like. Credit gets easier to reach. Approvals come through more often. Banks compete harder for your business.
Loan quality improved alongside the volume. The non-performing loan ratio fell to 3.3 percent in 2025, down from 4.7 percent a year earlier. In 2020, it stood at 8.2 percent. Lending more while getting repaid more reliably is an unusual pairing, and it points to households and firms in better financial shape.
Profits and the cushion behind them
Net profits climbed 11.7 percent to AED90.8 billion, about $24.7 billion, helped by higher operating income. The capital adequacy ratio finished the year at 17 percent, above the regulatory minimum. Deposits kept flowing in, so liquidity stayed comfortable.
Think of a capital ratio the way you would think of a household emergency fund. The bigger the buffer, the longer a bank can take losses without cutting off customers.
CBUAE’s Financial Stability Report also covers what happens if conditions turn ugly. Supervisory stress tests run during 2025 modelled a severe economic shock. Under the adverse scenario, the average Common Equity Tier 1 ratio slipped from 14.1 percent to a low of 11.1 percent, staying above the regulatory floor for the whole test period.
What CBUAE’s Financial Stability Report says about payments
CBUAE’s Financial Stability Report tracks how money moves as well as where it sits. The Aani instant payment platform carried around 183 percent more transactions in 2025 than in 2024, and enrolled users passed 11.7 million by the end of December. Aani lets you send up to AED50,000 at any hour of the day, with QR payments, payment requests and split bills built in.
The Jaywan card scheme runs alongside it as the national card network. Both sit inside the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme, the central bank’s plan for rebuilding the country’s payment rails. Work on cross-border payments continues under the same programme.
Beyond the big banks
CBUAE’s Financial Stability Report describes steady conditions across Islamic banking and insurance too. A legal change sits underneath all of this. Federal Decree-Law No. 6 of 2025 consolidated the rules covering banks and insurers, reinforced the central bank’s independence, and named the CBUAE as the country’s Resolution Authority, the body that steps in when a financial firm fails.
Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, said the report “affirms the strength and resilience of the UAE financial system and its ability to continue supporting the national economy efficiently.” He said the central bank will keep tightening its supervisory and prudential frameworks and preparing the system for risks still ahead.
For savers and borrowers, the practical read is simple. Banks have room to lend, buffers to absorb trouble, and payment tools that clear money in seconds rather than days. What the next report shows will depend on whether credit growth near 18 percent holds without loan quality slipping back.
