Please be advised that the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)'s Board of Directors has decided to increase the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) requirement to 0.50% on the private sector credit exposures in the UAE.

The phase-in period for the requirement will be 12 months, beginning on 1 January 2025, with the CCyB rate of 0.50% becoming effective on 1 January 2026.

Pursuant to Art. 6 of the 'Regulations re Capital Adequacy', (Circular No. 52/2017), the CCyB requirements must be met solely by Common Equity Tier 1 capital.

The CBUAE is applying the 0.50% rate in the context of a neutral risk environment when cyclical systemic risks are neither particularly high nor particularly low, a concept referred to as the positive cycle-neutral countercyclical capital buffer.

The CBUAE will continuously monitor the risk environment and the level of the CCyB and is in position to reduce the CCyB rate in the event of adverse shocks that could disrupt smooth lending to the economy.

Any queries in this regard may be addressed to the Financial Stability Department of CBUAE by emailing to: fsd@cbuae.gov.ae