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  • but that is Haram. period.
  • Imran
    Exactly, that is not investments.. its Riba
  • guys, NIB and NB are sharia compliant. For others it is totally upto your faith and belief. If your conscience doesn't allow you then you must avoid it.
  • Neena
    Thanks Umar for timely information. Do you have idea about capital being insured by government?
  • Neena » I understand your concern but unfortunately I couldn't find anything about it on the banks' websites. I will let you know when I have more information about it.
  • pi
    how are they even giving such kind of interest rates on deposits, when the rest of the world is giving 1-2%. daal mein kuch kala hai.

    surfed through your blog. interesting read.
  • pi » I know what you mean, but these rates are only available on AED. If you open a US$ account in UAE then you will get same rates as offered in USA. Thanks for liking my blog.
  • pi
    hmm..i dont get it..maybe its just me. thats a simple arbitrage opportunity. borrow USD and lend AED. everyone and thier mom would be doing this then. maybe im just not getting it.
  • pi » actually, there are quite a few people who are doing it. People do get creative if they have extra money and risk appetite.
  • hey! Dont Pakistani banks offer more nowadays?

    like around 9-12% p.a. ?
  • Just came across your blog, very interesting read on bank accounts that side of the world, its always interesting to see how the rest of teh world opperates. Hope to visit here again soon.

    Regards
    Janet
  • varbs
    hi umar!

    wonder if you have any recommendations for a good uae-based money market fund. would you have an idea as to how good its performance can be? i'm looking to put what little extra cash i have in a short-term (for liquidity) instrument that reaps the highest returns. or would you say i should just focus on national bonds and the like?

    would much appeciate your kind feedback.

    thanks!
  • varbs, i haven't come across any bank in this region actively promoting money market accounts (if they exist at all). I guess your best bet would be national bonds.
  • Layla Ahmed
    Good one Umar...

    But I still dont understand the concept.. we give thousands get hardly any hundreds back...

    m holding bonds worth from 2006 and all i got is less than 2000 dhs... now my holding is nearly 80K
  • varbs
    hi layla. actually, bonds are supposed to be low-return investment vehicles. that's because they offer less risk than, say, stocks, mutual funds, etc. unless you hit the monthly lottery in nat'l bonds, we're not likely gonna bag more than a few thousands in returns, not even in the long run. that's why it's positioned as a savings scheme, as a means to save more (which denotes a more protective notion of wealth management), as opposed to investing for capital growth.

    if you would like to see greater returns, you should look at equity funds, stocks, real estate, ETFs. of course, this would entail upping the level of risk, for which you should be compensated accordingly.

    umar, just a bit of a heads-up: hsbc esaver offers 3% interest p.a. (as per experience). 5% for a bank savings account is a pretty sweet deal, i would think. (i think mashreq has 4.5%).
  • thanks varbs... indeed bonds and savings accounts are low-risk options... and these days anything high-risk is not worth it.

    varbs: at the time of writing this post HSBC was offering 5%. Now they have reduced to 3%.
  • imranasghar
    i have money i like to fix deposit find a good profite thanks
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