UAE in a stronger position: Central Bank

Sultan al Suwaidi, Governor of the Central Bank, today said that the UAE is in a stronger position to face any future financial crisis.

Governor of the Central Bank of UAE, Sultan Bin Nasser al Suwaidi at the ACT Middle East conference in Dubai.

The UAE is in a stronger position to face any future financial crisis with growth likely to pick up next year, said Sultan al Suwaidi, Governor of the Central Bank. GDP growth was likely to register between three and four per cent next year, he said today.

"Our economy has come down to a level that's become very competitive as values have come down," he said during the ACT Middle East Annual Conference in Dubai.

"I think we are in a stronger position to face any new financial crisis." The world economy would not grow at the same high rate as a few years ago, he said. Loan growth in the UAE would be reasonable "under the circumstances", he said.

It was "wrong" for banks to both raise their credit portfolios to the peaks of between 2005 and 2008 and to slow credit growth to the low levels of present, he said.

"We believe we need to issue new regulations to slow down the credit portfolio growth when it reaches a certain rate so we have space to grow at a higher rate at the same time," he said.

Special technical teams were working on new regulations to make it easier for individuals to borrow mortgage loans to buy property, he said.