- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 05:40 06:55 12:36 15:45 18:11 19:26
The Emirates Bank and National Bank of Dubai (ENBD) merging in July 2007 resulted to the creation of the largest bank in the Mena region with a combined total assets of Dh162.2 billion. (DENNIS B MALLARI)
Shareholders in listed banks currently lacked the ability to inject capital into banks through capital increases, thus necessitating mergers to create bigger banks, Ahmed Al Tayer said, according to local media.
"The banking sector was not affected by the losses witnessed by international banks and its performance in terms of portfolios and credit remains unaffected," the report cited Al Tayer as saying.
He said banks had "started to overcome some of the impact resulting from withdrawals by some investors", the paper added.
The UAE central bank last month opened a Dh50 billion ($13.61 billion) emergency lending facility to help banks cope with the credit crisis, and said this month it would inject Dh70 billion of new cash into the banking system, although it has yet to release details on how this would be done.
Stock markets in the Gulf region are tracking a global market rout. Dubai's main index tumbled more than 6 per cent as of 0634 GMT on Thursday, extending a more than 40 per cent drop – the worst in the Gulf region – this year.
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