Biggest U.A.E. Bank Says Dollar Supply Tight After Oil Drop
- Bank liquidity tightening as revenue from oil in region slumps
- Most Arab Gulf countries have pegged currencies to U.S. dollar
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National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ largest bank, said there’s a reduced supply of dollars in the country as the region grapples with the impact of oil trading around $30 per barrel.
“There is a dollar shortage,” Chief Executive Officer Alex Thursby told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. “It’s not a crisis, but it is tightening,” he said. Government deposits in the U.A.E. slumped by more than $13 billion in a year after the drop in crude prices, the executive said on an earnings conference call in October.