Hundreds of thousands of UAE residents, including SMEs and  private corporates, have benefited from the government’s relief efforts geared towards helping alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last March, the UAE government rolled out the $69.707 billion Targeted Economic Support Scheme (TESS) to provide temporary relief to businesses impacted by the health outbreak. One of the features of the scheme is a zero-cost facility for loan customers with regards to repayments on their borrowings.

According to a statement from the UAE Central Bank, some 300,000 individuals, close to 10,000 SMEs and more than 1,500 private corporates have so far benefited from the zero-cost liquidity facility of TESS.

The progress of the initiative was discussed during a meeting between Abdulhamid Saee Alahmadi, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE and CEOs of banks across the country on Wednesday.

The meeting reviewed the macro-economic situation in the country, with a particular focus on the UAE banking sector, as well as the continued preparedness of banks to cope with the consequences of the pandemic.

The discussion also took up the systemic stability of banks and the importance of having robust controls to mitigate the risks of money laundering and financing of terrorism in the UAE.

“The Central Bank of UAE reaffirms its commitment towards enhancing monetary and financial stability in the country through effective supervision, partnership with financial institutions and a sustained and robust financial infrastructure,” said the central bank governor.

“The continuous focus of banks on key financial ratios, coupled with the need to provide assistance to impacted customers, was required to ensure systemic financial stability in the country,” he added.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com

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