UAE’s interbank offered rates rose slightly on Monday in their first change after Dubai's government announcement of a debt standstill for its key companies, the central bank data showed.

The three-month rate increased to 1.94125 per cent on Monday's fixing from 1.91875 per cent in the previous fixing on November 25, the central bank said on its website centralbank.ae.

Meanwhile, the central bank’s move to offer emergency support to banks has been welcomed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which said it would continue to monitor the debt situation.

'The UAE is a strong resource-based economy and we welcome today's announcement by the Central Bank of the UAE making available to banks a special additional liquidity facility,' the IMF said in a statement.

'We look forward to further clarification by the authorities towards a cooperative mechanism to address the issues between these debtors and their creditors.'

The central bank set up an emergency facility yesterday (November 29) to get liquidity to banks after Dubai said it would ask creditors of two companies to agree to a standstill on billions of dollars of debt. – Reuters