Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s chief executive yesterday said the lender had so far not been affected by the fall in oil prices, and is continuing to grow its business in this country.
“Oil prices have gone up and down,” Ala’a Eraiqat said after the bank’s annual shareholder meeting. “Until today, we have not felt any of that impact in our business at any level. I am not an economist to talk about the future but the Abu Dhabi statistics agency has predicted growth this year. So far we’re very comfortable with what’s going on and we are still focused on growing our business in the UAE.”
Mr Eraiqat’s comments echo those of other bank chief executives who are relying on the non-oil economy to prop up demand for financial services this year after the price of oil dropped more than 50 per cent in 2014.
While the IMF downgraded UAE economic forecasts for 2015 GDP growth to 3.5 per cent, many analysts still expect GDP to grow by about 4 per cent. The Government estimates growth of 4 to 4.5 per cent.
Mr Eraiqat also said that his bank was protected by the fact that it is not overly reliant on businesses that are sensitive to fluctuation in hydrocarbon prices.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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