{"id":113001,"date":"2026-02-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/12\/the-name-of-the-game-for-banks-in-2026-more-lending-more-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T00:00:00","slug":"the-name-of-the-game-for-banks-in-2026-more-lending-more-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/12\/the-name-of-the-game-for-banks-in-2026-more-lending-more-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"The name of the game for banks in 2026: More lending, more deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moody\u2019s is upbeat on UAE banks this year: <\/strong>Moody\u2019s Ratings\u2019 outlook for the UAE banking sector is now positive, up from just \u201cstable,\u201d as banks head into the year with a strong monetary base and ample liquidity, Al Bayan<\/a> reports. Lower interest rates will actually be good news for credit rather than bad news, given demand for lending and banks\u2019 renewed focus on credit, according to Moody\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Moody\u2019s expects 2026 to be a year of more capital deployment and lending for banks<\/strong>, whereas the past three years have been focused on balance sheet cleanup, the rating agency noted.<\/p>\n

Banks<\/strong> in Dubai will also benefit from the economic momentum<\/strong>, alongside a bigger budget for the next two years and increased infrastructure spending, Moody\u2019s VP and Senior Analyst Badis Shubailat told the news outlet. The emirate had approved its largest ever budget for 2025-2027, with some AED 272 bn earmarked for spending.<\/p>\n

\n

By the numbers <\/p>\n

Strong operating conditions and enhanced asset quality have left <\/strong>UAE banks with a comfortable <\/strong>70-75%<\/strong> loan-to-deposit ratio.<\/strong> This liquidity surplus, coupled with a projected 4.5% growth in the non-oil economy, positions the sector to aggressively boost lending as interest rates ease, Shubilat said.<\/p>\n

B<\/strong>ank<\/strong>s' assets rose 17.1% y-o-y to AED 5.3 tn as of December 2025<\/strong>, according to a report (pdf)<\/a> from the CBUAE\u2019s Monetary and Banking Developments. Gross credit also increased to 2.6 tn, up 17.9% y-o-y over the same period, while total deposits rose 16.2% y-o-y to reach AED 3.31 tn.<\/p>\n

\n

Moody\u2019s view that lending conditions will improve is the consensus \u2014 but there\u2019s a caveat<\/p>\n

As we reported earlier<\/strong> this year<\/strong>, the general outlook for banks in the UAE is rosy, supported by strong growth in international operations and an expected 10-12% increase in consumer lending, according to previous S&P Global forecasts<\/a>. Banks are also expected to see strong growth when it comes to international operations, with loan growth potentially accelerating to 17%. <\/p>\n

Yes, but\u2026 <\/strong>This could come alongside a slight long-term decline in margins to settle between 2.5-2.7%. Banks\u2019 performance will depend on their ability to maintain asset quality amid rapid expansion in consumer lending. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moody\u2019s is upbeat on UAE banks this year: Moody\u2019s Ratings\u2019 outlook for the UAE banking sector is now positive, up from just \u201cstable,\u201d as banks head into the year with a strong monetary base and ample liquidity, Al Bayan reports. Lower interest rates will actually be good news for credit rather than bad news, given […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1618],"tags":[159,19,7],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-113001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-banking","tag-economy","tag-enterpriseam-uae","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"6e257954-60ef-4ee4-a751-685b3efdfa2e","order":"4","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/11\/2390.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"The name of the game for banks in 2026: More lending, more deployment","related_issue":[112994],"teaser":""},"yoast_head":"\nThe name of the game for banks in 2026: More lending, more deployment - UAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/12\/the-name-of-the-game-for-banks-in-2026-more-lending-more-deployment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The name of the game for banks in 2026: More lending, more deployment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Moody\u2019s is upbeat on UAE banks this year: Moody\u2019s Ratings\u2019 outlook for the UAE banking sector is now positive, up from just \u201cstable,\u201d as banks head into the year with a strong monetary base and ample liquidity, Al Bayan reports. 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