UAE Central Bank Boosts Anti-Coronavirus Stimulus to $70 Bln

Business

April 6th, 5:19am

Abu Dhabi - Asharq Al-Awsat

The central bank said the aggregate value of all capital and liquidity measures it adopted since March 14 is 256 billion dirhams. WAM

The United Arab Emirates' central bank announced new measures to guarantee liquidity in the banking system in the face of the new coronavirus outbreak, boosting its stimulus to a total of $70 billion from a previously announced $27 billion package. The central bank said on Sunday the aggregate value of all capital and liquidity measures it adopted since March 14 is 256 billion dirhams ($69.70 billion). On March 14 it had launched 100 billion dirhams ($27 billion) worth of measures. The central bank's governor, Abdulhamid Saeed - who was appointed last week - said the additional measures "will effectively relieve the pressure on financial institutions, allowing them to continue to carry out their crucial role as the backbone of the economy while offering the required relief and continued access to funding for businesses and households." The UAE regulator said on Sunday it has halved banks' reserve requirements for demand deposits to 7% from 14%, which will inject about 61 billion dirhams of liquidity to support banks' lending and liquidity management. It extended the duration of a previously announced deferral of loan principal and interest payments for customers until the end of the year, and said banks participating in the scheme can benefit from a capital buffer relief until December 2021. The value of the capital buffer relief is 50 billion dirhams. Banks are allowed a "zero-cost funding facility" against collateral until the end of this year - a program also worth 50 billion dirhams. Overall measures aimed at relaxing banks' liquidity buffer requirements were estimated at 95 billion dirhams, the regulator said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, in cooperation with the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the General Civil Aviation Authority, and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, has launched the 'Early Leave' initiative. The initiative aims to enable residents who work in the private sector and wish to return to their home countries to do so during the period of precautionary measures undertaken in the UAE to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Employees will be asked to submit their annual leave dates or agree with their employers on unpaid leave.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2218916/uae-central-bank-boosts-anti-coronavirus-stimulus-70-bln