The head of UAE banks federation (UBF) Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair said that the fallout from the rising level of bad debts in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector has been contained. The UBF has put in place a framework to work out all the skip customers and this has been a great boost to stabilise the economy, SMEs and the banks. In March UAE banks agreed to halt criminal prosecutions for bounced cheques drawn by SME customers. The scheme allows debtors a 15-day period to agree a restructuring scheme with creditors, followed by up to 90 days in which the banks will refrain from pre-emptive action including prosecution in courts or travel bans. Mr Ghurair said that the framework has stopped customers from exiting the country. Mr Ghurair also said that the banking system was still flush with cash and there were not any liquidity constraints. (The National)