The Emirates Industrial Bank will merge with the Real Estate Bank in the UAE to create Emirates Development Bank, with DH10bn in capital.

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for financial affairs, said, “The merger is expected to be finalised by summer. In effect, the Government is merging Emirates Industrial Bank with three other financial institutions to create a state-backed mega-bank aimed at reviving lending to real estate buyers and developers.”

The Real Estate Bank had earlier been combined with Amlak Finance and Tamweel, the UAE’s two largest real estate financiers. The advent of the new Emirates Development Bank will have access to federal funds thereby placing the nation’s home finance sector in a stronger position to weather the slowdown.