Revealed: Banks that are hiring, firing in UAE

National banks hired 385 people while foreign banks laid off 29 workers during the month of September.

National banks in the UAE continued to hire and the foreign banks continued to lay off workers during September 2018.
According to the UAE Central Bank data for the month of September 2018, the UAE banks added 356 employees month-on-month to 35,791 at September end. National banks hired 385 people while foreign banks laid off 29 workers during the month.
The UAE banks have added 1,116 workers year-to-date with local banks hiring 1,176 while foreign banks shedding 60 workers in the first 9 months of 2018.
As customers increasingly shift toward online and digital banking services, banks in the UAE are reducing their brick-and-mortar stores. Local banks had 751 branches by the end of September, closing 20 branches in the first 9 months. While foreign banks had 81 branches as one branch was closed during the January to September 2018 period.
According to the Central Bank's data, all UAE banks' assets grew 1.35 per cent month-on-month from Dh2.8 trillion in August 2018 to Dh2.838 trillion in September. National banks' assets grew from Dh2.44 trillion to Dh2.47 trillion. While foreign banks' total assets grew from Dh359 billion to Dh364.44 billion.
"The aggregated assets of the banks registered a month-on-month increase of 1.4 per cent at the end of September 2018, which was mainly due to the increase in foreign assets and due from resident banks by 6.2 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, overriding the decrease in cash and deposits with Central Bank by 2.4 per cent," the apex bank.
However, lending to private sector shrank to Dh1.120 trillion in September as against Dh1.122 in the previous month.
Monica Malik, chief economist, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said in a note that rising interest rates are adding further downward pressure to domestic demand.
Deposit growth continued to outpace credit growth in 2018, resulting in a lower loan-to-deposit ratio and a system-wide improvement in liquidity. Gross government deposits were up 42.1 per cent year-on-year in September 2018; while gross government-related entities deposits grew 5.3 per cent year-on-year, reflecting signs of sector deleveraging.
Pick-up in private sector credit growth is being driven by the corporate segment; while retail credit growth is witnessing further deceleration in 2018.
waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com