DUBAI, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. sanctions on Iran will not have any impact on the economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), UAE Central Bank Governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansouri said Tuesday.
"We don't expect (any) material impact due to Iran sanctions," Al Mansouri was quoted by the Gulf News in a report published on its website.
The central bank chief talked to reporters on the sidelines of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Mena Financial Summit held in Abu Dhabi, the report said.
The U.S. fully re-imposed sanctions on Iran on Monday in a bid to force Tehran to agree to renegotiate the 2015 international nuclear deal, which Washington quit in May.
Al Mansouri said two Iranian banks, Bank Melli Iran and Bank Saderat Iran, would continue to function in the UAE to cater to Iranian nationals working in the country.
"The two Iranian banks have minimized their activity and are catering (to) Iranian nationals living in the UAE. It is difficult for them (Iranians) to open accounts with other banks," he said.
Al Mansouri said UAE banks had taken measures to comply with the last U.S. sanctions regime against Iran and these measures had not been dropped despite the later U.S. lifting of sanctions.
He also said the UAE currency peg to the U.S. dollar had served the country well.
"When you look at EM (emerging markets) currencies recently and what happened to them, you would appreciate that we have a stable currency for trade and investment. This gives us a lot of stability and confidence," Al Mansouri said.
Despite low oil prices, the UAE economy fared well when compared to other countries in the region due to the government's diversification policies, he noted.
"Non-oil contribution to GDP is 77 percent. This helped the country really to take on the shock of low oil prices," the central bank chief added.
