ABU DHABI - The total foreign currency assets held by the Central Bank of the UAE stood at AED348 bn by the end of January 2019, a growth of 6.7 percent from AED326 bn in January 2018, as current account balances and deposits with foreign banks strengthened to AED278.8 bn against AED254.9 bn in the same month last year, according to the CBUAE figures.

The foreign assets exclude CBUAE Reserve Tranche Position and Special Drawing Rights holdings with the International Monetary Fund.

Monetary aggregates, which include currency in circulation outside banks plus monetary deposits and quasi-deposits and government deposits, referred to as M3, continued to increase, hitting AED1.603 trillion by the end of January 2019 against AED1.481 trillion in the same month last year.

Government deposits amounted to AED297.6 bn in January, while monetary deposits hit AED415 bn and quasi-monetary deposits stood at AED819 bn.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.