A senior Emirati banker said that economic life in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic will change for everyone, calling on companies and institutions to adapt to the new situation.
Abdul-Aziz Al-Ghurair, the CEO of Mashreq Group and Chairman of the UAE Banking Federation, said that the UAE government and the central bank were looking to back private sector companies and institutions by supporting the economy in the country.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat through a video call, Al-Ghurair said: “Everyone desires that companies and small and medium enterprises and individuals working in the country keep their businesses running.”
He explained that crises “usually create great opportunities for some companies to adjust their way of business, by knowing the best means to manage them.”
“There is no doubt that some companies, which cannot respond to the current circumstances, will find difficulties to survive,” he emphasized.
Al-Ghurair noted that recent initiatives launched by the UAE government constituted the largest support for the banking sector.
He pointed out that the stimulus amounted to about 265 billion dirhams (USD 72.1 billion), including 205 billion dirhams (USD 55.8 billion) to increase liquidity, in addition to 50 billion dirhams (USD 13.6 billion) represented in reducing the capital adequacy requirements to give banks the opportunity to start offering additional facilities without resorting to increasing their capital.
According to the senior banking official, the total number of loans granted to individuals and companies from the private sector, except for the public sector or semi-public companies, amounted to one trillion dirhams (USD 272.2 billion).
“Growth may not be at the same pace in the coming four years, but I would like to assure everyone that there is a sufficient package of liquidity to be used in the banking sector,” he stressed.
He also said that depositors have to take precautionary decisions within the institution, by reducing costs and expansive operations, and waiving some imaginative projects that they wished to implement.
The UAE leadership attaches great importance to controlling health conditions after approving the stimulus package to bring life back to normal, according to Al-Ghurair.
