The country is in the list of the fastest growing global economies. And one million new employees under the wage protection system
Central: 7.6% growth in the UAE's GDP in 2022
Mansour bin Zayed: "The strong policy framework adopted by the Central Bank has provided the necessary basis to achieve the targeted economic results of the state."
The Central Bank confirmed that the UAE economy was able to return to the state of growth that prevailed before the spread of the pandemic. WAM
Khaled Balama: «(Central) will continue during 2023 to implement more practical uses of digital currency».
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The annual report of the Central Bank for the year 2022 issued yesterday revealed that the UAE's GDP achieved a growth of 7.6% last year, making the country an advanced global rank in the list of the fastest growing economies in the world during 2022, and achieving a relatively lower rate of inflation, noting that the country benefited from the rise in energy prices and the growth of the non-oil economy, as well as a boom in the real estate and tourism investment sectors.
Sturdy frame
H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the UAE, said that last year, the UAE was able to overcome the obstacles that emerged as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing out that the strong policy framework adopted by the Central Bank provided the necessary basis to achieve the targeted economic results for the country, and was able to record a GDP growth estimated at 7.6% in 2022.
priority
His Highness added in a speech at the introduction to the annual report of the Central Bank that «the strategic priority is the start of the Central Bank to implement the digital transformation program that contributes to strengthening the financial infrastructure significantly within the Central Bank and at the state level».
Initiatives
"In addition, the Central Bank will contribute to large-scale state policy initiatives in hosting COP28, and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure climate risk is taken into account and facilitate sustainable financing in the financial sector regulatory framework, and will adopt aspects of environmental, social and corporate governance principles in its medium-term investment policies and operations."
Cryptocurrencies
For his part, the Governor of the Central Bank, Khaled Mohammed Balama, said in a speech in the report, that «promising progress has been made in the use of digital currencies of the Central Bank, as the experience of the Central Bank digital currency conducted during 2022 with selected central banks, showed its feasibility to facilitate cross-border payments».
He added: "Our experience in this field has developed and the Central Bank will continue to implement more practical uses of digital currency in 2023."
growth
In the details of the report, the CBE stated that during the past year, which witnessed a slowdown in global economic growth due to high interest rates, the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine, and the spread of the Corona virus in China, the UAE economy was able to return to the state of growth that prevailed before the spread of the pandemic, explaining that this was supported by proactive reform measures, and the wise decision to reopen the country's economy after the pandemic, to be one of the first countries to adopt this step.
He added that although global GDP growth almost halved in 2022 to 3.4% after recording 6.2% in 2021, the UAE's GDP growth doubled, reaching about 7.6%, noting that it achieved 3.9% in 2021.
Inflation
In addition, despite the rise in global inflation to an average of 8.8% last year and rising from 4.7% in 2021, inflation in the UAE for 2022 recorded 4.8%, while it is expected to decline to 3.2% in 2023, according to Central Bank estimates.
assets
According to the report, the economic achievements in the UAE during 2022 were not limited to that, but also recorded a 10.5% increase in the assets of the banking sector compared to their size in 2021, another increase in the total written premiums in the insurance sector by 6.5%, in addition to the expansion of bank credit by 4.6%, and the doubling of the number of tourist arrivals.
He pointed out that the UAE government ended the first nine months of last year with a budget surplus of AED 169.6 billion, and stock indices in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Dubai Financial Market increased by 40.5% and 20.9% respectively during the same year.
Wage Protection
The report revealed that the average number of employees registered in the Wages Protection System at the state level reached 5.2 million employees last year from 4.2 million employees in 2021, an increase of one million new employees, while there was an increase in the total value of salaries paid to 249 billion dirhams, compared to 212 billion dirhams in 2021, while the number of companies registered until December 31, 2022 in the system increased to 275,680 companies, an increase of 27%, compared to 216,690 companies at the end of 2021.
• 10.5% growth in the assets of the banking sector in the country last year.
Dubai Real Estate. Exceptional performance
The real estate sector in the UAE ranks sixth on the list of the most important non-hydrocarbon sectors, with a share of 8.2% of non-oil GDP.
The Central Bank's annual report for 2022 confirmed that despite the increase in interest rates, the real estate sector managed to achieve a strong performance, noting that the performance of the real estate market in Dubai last year was exceptional and the best in the history of the emirate, reflecting its attractiveness around the world.
Insurance Sector
The insurance sector continued to grow in 2022, with total written premiums increasing by 6.5% year-on-year to AED 47.2 billion, while the number of insurance policies increased to 8.8 million, while total claims paid increased by 2.2% to AED 27.3 billion.