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RIYADH: ������Ƶ’s Minister of Economy and Planning is intensifying global engagement through a series of high-level meetings aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and economic cooperation with key international markets.

On the sidelines of the UN’s High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2025, Faisal Al-Ibrahim met with his Ethiopian counterpart, Fitsum Assefa, to discuss enhancing bilateral economic, commercial, and investment ties and other topics of mutual interest, according to a statement.

This supports the ministry’s goal to advance Vision 2030 by fostering economic diversification, attracting investment, and strengthening the national economy.

Its main priorities include crafting long-term strategies, aligning policies to ensure sustainable growth, and identifying strategic opportunities, as well as promoting data-driven policymaking, enhancing economic expertise, and building institutional capacity.

In a post on X, the ministry noted: “Minister of Economy and Planning meets with Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, to discuss strengthening trade and development ties between the two countries, and other topics of common interest, on the sidelines of HLPF25.”

Al-Ibrahim also met with Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Environment, and Energy, and Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, to review enhancing collaboration in economic policy, trade, and development, as well as exploring potential investment opportunities under Saudi Vision 2030.

He also held talks with the Minister for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, Petr Kulhanek, to discuss regional and infrastructure development, sharing best practices in sustainable growth, and exploring opportunities for economic expansion.

Additionally, the minister held talks with Beatriz Carles de Arango, Minister of Social Development of Panama, to explore collaboration on sustainable development, social protection strategies, and advancing shared priorities for human capital investment.

“I had the pleasure of meeting Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan at HLPF25, to discuss deepening bilateral economic ties, enhancing public policy coordination, and promoting sustainable growth,” Al-Ibrahim said on his X account.

The minister also met with Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, to explore expanding investment opportunities in the Kingdom.

RIYADH: The UAE’s banking sector expanded modestly in April, with total banking assets rising to 4.75 trillion dirhams ($1.29 trillion), driven by higher lending and a sharp increase in non-resident deposits. 

According to data from the Central Bank of the UAE, total assets, which include bankers’ acceptances, increased by 0.6 percent from March, continuing an upward trend amid resilient credit activity and growing liquidity. 

This comes amid diverging banking trends across the Gulf, with Kuwait reporting a 6.7 percent year-on-year rise in total assets to 93.51 billion dinars ($303 billion) in March, and ������Ƶ recording a 7.4 percent increase to SR5.3 trillion ($1.41 trillion) in April. 

Qatar, meanwhile, recorded a marginal 0.1 percent monthly decline, with assets slipping to 2.07 trillion Qatari riyals ($558.9 billion) due mainly to a 0.5 percent drop in domestic holdings. 

In its latest report, CBUAE said “the increase in money supply aggregate M1 (which includes physical currency and demand deposits) by 2.6 percent, from AED 986.2 billion at the end of March 2025 to AED 1,011.9 billion at the end of April 2025.” 

It added: “The increase was due to AED 26.9 billion growth in monetary deposits, overriding the AED 1.2 billion decrease in currency in circulation outside banks.” 

The increase was driven by a 0.1 percent rise in resident deposits and a 10.9 percent increase in non-resident deposits, which rose to 275.6 billion dirhams.  

Gross credit rose 0.9 percent to 2.26 trillion dirhams, supported by a 12.3 billion dirham increase in domestic credit and a 7.1 billion dirham gain in foreign credit. 

Lending to the private sector rose 0.6 percent, while government and quasi-government sectors saw gains of 0.7 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. Credit to non-banking financial institutions fell 4.3 percent. 

Within resident deposits, government sector deposits rose by 0.9 percent, private sector deposits by 1.1 percent, while deposits from non-banking financial institutions declined by 9.2 percent. Deposits from government-related entities fell by 6.5 percent.  

M2, which includes M1 and quasi-monetary deposits, decreased by 0.1 percent to 2.44 trillion dirhams from 2.437.7 trillion dirhams, as quasi-monetary deposits fell by 27.8 billion dirhams.  

Meanwhile, M3 — the broadest measure including government deposits — rose 0.2 percent to 2.90 trillion dirhams on the back of a 6.6 billion dirham increase in government balances. 

The monetary base declined by 1.7 percent to 819 billion dirhams at the end of April, compared to 833.1 billion dirhams in March.  

This was due to a 2.5 percent reduction in currency issued and a 32 percent decline in banks’ and financial institutions’ reserve accounts.
  
These were partially offset by a 159.8 percent surge in current accounts and overnight deposits held by banks and other financial corporations at the central bank, and a 3.1 percent increase in monetary bills and Islamic certificates of deposit.