The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has significantly increased its gold reserves by 19.3 percent during the first quarter of 2025. This boost adds AED4.444 billion, bringing the total gold reserves to AED27.425 billion ($7.46 billion) at the end of March, up from AED22.981 billion at the end of 2024.

In addition to gold reserves, the CBUAE reported a rise in demand deposit balances, which surpassed AED1.147 trillion by the end of March. This figure marks an increase from approximately AED1.109 trillion at the end of December 2024. Of the total demand deposits, AED856.062 billion was held in local currency, while AED291.116 billion was in foreign currencies.

The bank’s statistics also indicated an increase in savings deposits, which rose to AED338.788 billion at the end of March, compared to AED317.48 billion in December 2024. This total included AED268.97 billion in local currency and AED51.817 billion in foreign currencies.

Time deposits reached AED991.757 billion by the end of March, with AED614.854 billion in local currency and AED376.9 billion in foreign currencies. Furthermore, the Central Bank’s banking operations statistics revealed that total transfers executed within the banking sector through the UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) amounted to AED5.449 trillion during the first quarter. This included AED3.331 trillion in bank-to-bank transfers and AED2.118 trillion in customer transfers.

In March, cheque transactions showed that the total value of cheques cleared using their images reached AED351.359 billion across 5.615 million cheques during the first three months of the year. Specifically, in March alone, the value of cheques processed was AED116.712 billion through approximately 1.83 million cheques.

Additionally, cash withdrawals from the Central Bank totaled AED63.887 billion in the first quarter, while cash deposits during the same period amounted to AED47.124 billion.