The assets held by traditional banks operating in the UAE surged to Dh2.103 trillion ($571 billion), accounting for 79.6 per cent of the total assets of the country's banking apparatus until the end of September, a report said.

The assets of the country's Islamic banks neared Dh5.39 billion, making up 20.4 per cent of the UAE banking apparatus' assets, estimated at Dh2.642 trillion by the end of September, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency, citing statistics released by the UAE Central Bank.

A total of 58 banks are operating in the UAE, 50 of which are traditional and 8 are Sharia-compliant.

Loans provided by traditional banks surged to Dh1.112 trillion by the end of September 2017, comprising 76.85 per cent of total loans, while the credit provided by Islamic banks stood at Dh334.5 billion, or 23.1 per cent of total credit.

Deposits at the traditional banks reached Dh1.319 trillion, claiming 77.8 per cent of total deposits at the banking sector during the monitored period.

Deposits at Islamic banks totalled Dh376.2 billion, claiming 22.25 per cent of banking deposits.