Following the bank’s second board meeting of the year on 14 September it said it would continue to monitor the situation, and said that in the event of a return of currency speculators “the central bank has the necessary tools to deal with the situation”.

Figures from the bank indicate that as much as $20bn had been held in the emirates alone, in the expectation of a revaluation of the dirham’s dollar peg. The total figure, including investments that do not go through the central bank, could have been much higher.