Central Bank Annual Report - 2020

Annual Report

2020

H.H. SHEIKH KHALIFA BIN ZAYED BIN SULTAN AL NAHYAN

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

01

CONTENTS

			The CBUAE Board of Directors	........................................ 07
		Message from the Chairman
		of the Board of Directors .................................................	08
		Message from the Governor............................................	10
		THE CBUAE AT A GLANCE..................................................	12
		Mission, Vision, and Values........................................................................	13
	Our History .................................................................................................	14
	Executive Level Committees......................................................................	16
	Part 1.
	Economic, monetary and financial
	developments ....................................................................	17
	Chapter 1	. ...........................................................................	18
	International Economic Developments
	Chapter 2. ...........................................................................	21
	Domestic Economic Developments
	Chapter 3. ...........................................................................	30
	Banking and Financial Developments
	Chapter 4. ............................................................................	33
	Interest Rates and Money Supply
	Part 2.
	Key highlights in 2020 .......................................................	35
	1. 2020 Strategic priorities..............................................................................	36
	2. Targeted Economic Support Scheme (TESS) to address
	the COVID-19 repercussions....................................................................	36
	3. Tackling money laundering.................................................................................and the financing of	38
	terrorism in the UAE
	4. Raising the bar for sound and effective supervision...............................	39
	5. Supervisory and regulatory responsibility of the
	UAE insurance sector................................................................................	42
	6. Facilitating the resilience of the UAE financial system to withstand
	shocks and support the economy...........................................................	42
	7. Data-driven research to inform decision making....................................	43
	8. Ensuring the sustainability of the USD peg to achieve monetary
	policy objectives........................................................................................	43
	9. Ensuring best practices in foreign currency reserves management.....	44
	10. Developing payment regulatory framework to keep pace with
	rapid innovation......................................................................................	45
	11. Developing a robust FinTech ecosystem in the UAE.............................	46
	12. Strengthening consumer trust in the financial system.........................	46
	13. Continuing to operate in a pandemic......................................................	47
14. Investing in our people to ensure a performance based culture........	48
15. Ensuring public awareness of the CBUAE's work to safeguard
	the economy............................................................................................	48
Part 3.	................................................................................... 49
Financial reporting
Appendix .............................................................................	51

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Central Bank of

Annual Report 2020

7

THE CBUAE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

H.H. SHEIKH MANSOUR

BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN

CHAIRMAN

H.E. ABDULRAHMAN	H.E. ABDULHAMID M.
	AL SALEH	SAEED ALAHMADI
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN	GOVERNOR

H.E. KHALID	H.E. ALI MOHAMMED	H.E. YOUNIS HAJI	H.E. KHALED MOHAMMED
AHMED ALTAYER	BAKHEET AL RUMAITHI	AL KHOORI	SALEM BALAMA
MEMBER	MEMBER	MEMBER	MEMBER

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Central Bank of the UAE

Annual Report 2020

9

MESSAGE FROM

H.H. SHEIKH MANSOUR

BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN,

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

AND MINISTER OF

PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged every aspect of our lives, our communities, and our economy. However, adversity can also bring out the best in nations. The UAE was among the top 10 countries in terms of its handling of the pandemic, according to the Global Response to Infectious Diseases Index.

The pandemic took a severe toll on the world's economies, especially in the first half of 2020, with an impact on global GDP, redefining of trade routes, and an almost complete shutdown of many economies. The outlook improved in the second half of the year as lockdowns eased, and limited travel and tourism resumed. We have ended the year on a more positive note with a pickup in global activity and on effective rollout of vaccines against COVID-19.

The Central Bank of the UAE's (CBUAE) independence and ability to act quickly and decisively proved to be the key to the UAE's response. The actions of the CBUAE in formulating and rolling out the Targeted Economic Support Scheme were a key contributor to the UAE overcoming the worst consequences of the pandemic, ensuring that the nation could quickly resume its growth trajectory.

Although UAE's Gross Domestic Product decreased in 2020 in line with the rest of the world, all key indicators of financial system's stability remained solid. Banks had sufficient capital and liquidity buffers, while aggregate assets, deposits, and lending increased. Despite the pandemic's adverse impact on the profitability of UAE banks in 2020, no fundamental shift In the sector's solvency or a decline in appetite for business was experienced - a promising signal as we seek to guide the economy to renewed growth in 2021.

The CBUAE developed a comprehensive roadmap for the next five decades, in line with the UAE government's "Towards the Next 50" initiative. We also unveiled an ambitious Fin-Tech strategy aiming to establish the UAE as a top five global Fin-Tech hub and ensuring that our Fin-Tech regulations conform to the highest international standards.

The experiences of 2020 have demonstrated the extent of the UAE's resilience and positioned the country in good stead to welcome the future and capitalize on the opportunities ahead. The CBUAE employees should be immensely proud of their contribution and dedication to our nation's efforts to rise to the challenge.

On my behalf and on behalf of the entire Board, I would like to sincerely thank the CBUAE Governor and the entire team of competent and dedicated professionals who confidently guided the institution through what has been an unprecedented year of turbulence.

We remain committed to our goal of being one of the top central banks globally.