DUBAI - THE United Arab Emirates will inject 70 billion dirhams (S$28.1 billion) into long-term bank deposits under a government plan announced earlier this month, a newspaper quoted an informed source as saying on Sunday.

The UAE allocated the emergency funding last week to help the banking sector cope with the impact of the global credit crisis, but gave no details on how it would employ the funds.

'These facilities would be directed to banks as long-term deposits to enhance liquidity, which would help banks expand lending activities to the (level) they were at about three months ago,' al-Ittihad newspaper quoted a well-informed source as saying.

Officials of the Ministry of Finance and UAE central bank met on Saturday to discuss the mechanism for injecting the funds, it added. -- REUTERS