RAKBank sees UAE business loan demand gaining momentum | Banking – Gulf News
National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBank) has been in the forefront of extending financing to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE. The bank is part of various initiatives by Emirates Development Bank, Dubai SME, Khalifa Fund and RAK SME in supporting SMEs and is keen to be part of the post-COVID recovery of this sector of the economy.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dhiraj Kunwar, Managing Director of Business Banking at RAKBank said there are clear signs of improving business confidence in the UAE and the bank expects to see a gradual pick up in credit demand supported by strong economic fundamentals.
How is the corporate credit demand picking up after slump that followed COVID crisis?
To start off, in my opinion we are witnessing a slight increase in credit demand. This was echoed by the Central Bank report that was released recently, whereby UAE banks assets have shown an increased trend in the first quarter of the current year. We understand that the growth may have come from government related entities (GRE) /institutional lending side or from the mortgage book, but now we are seeing a modest uptick across all business segments, suggesting early signs of revival although it is still not close to the pre-COVID levels for Consumer/SME lending.
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