His Excellency Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), hosted the UAE Bank CEOs Forum, a quarterly dialogue which aims to enhance the development of the UAE banking sector.
The CBUAE and UAE bank CEOs discussed the global and UAE economic recovery that commenced during 2021 and the outlook for 2022. The CBUAE also highlighted key Emiratisation initiatives, which aim at creating new jobs for UAE nationals and supporting talent development in the banking sector.
The CEOs commended the wide-ranging measures under the Targeted Economic Support Scheme (TESS) to address the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The improving broad-based indicators allowed the CBUAE and the banks to seamlessly complete Phase 1 of the TESS exit strategy by 31 December 2021.
The CBUAE noted the planned completion of Phase 2 of the TESS exit by mid-2022, while some TESS measures that support the recovery will remain in place for the time being. The CBUAE highlighted that it is closely monitoring the evolving situation globally and stands ready to take additional measures if necessary.
H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, commented: “The CBUAE aims to support the competitiveness of the UAE’s financial system. We share an ambition with the UAE banks to propel the UAE banking sector to be among the best globally, as emphasized during the UAE Bank CEOs Forum.”
