Abu Dhabi, Sep 22 (IANS) In a bid to shield the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) banking industry from the current liquidity in the global financial markets, the country’s central bank has decided to set up a 50-billion dirham ($13.6 billion) fund which banks here can avail of.The UAE Central Bank Monday announced it was setting up the new facility after its board of directors discussed the position of inter-bank deposits, which was affected by the liquidity constraints in international money markets, the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

“To remedy this situation, the central bank decided to set up a facility amounting to AED50 billion for banks operating in the UAE, to be used by these banks if so needed,” the report quoted the central bank statement as saying.

“The central bank expects that these funds would meet banks needs for supporting continued financing of economic growth,” it added.

The central bank board of directors also reviewed the availability of additional resources for providing further support to banks in the UAE if needed.