The UAE central bank's foreign currency assets jumped 38 per cent from a year earlier to Dh282.9 billion ($77 billion) in December as holdings of foreign securities and deposits abroad increased, data showed on Thursday.
    
The assets include Dubai government bonds worth Dh36.72 billion.

The emirates had in October witnessed a drop in foreign currency assets which plunged to Dh269 billion from 284.3 billion the previous month, which was their highest level since 2007, said the report citing official data.

The fall, which was the largest since at least 2009, was due to a drop in deposits to a 10-month low of Dh79.3 billion, despite a rise of foreign securities holdings to a record high of 149 billion, it added.-Reuters