DUBAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - HSBC has cut jobs in itsretail and commercial banking units in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) as the bank prepares for lower growth in the Gulf Arabstate next year, a source familiar with the matter said onMonday.
The bank in June announced plans to slash 50,000 jobsglobally, equivalent to nearly one in five people employed bythe lender, as part of a strategy aimed at combating sluggishgrowth across its sprawling empire and to boost dividendpayments.
Economic growth in the Gulf Arab region, including the UAE,has also been stalling due to lower oil prices and subsequentcuts in state spending, which is being felt in the local bankingsystem including through increasing default rates among smalland medium-sized businesses.
The job cuts, which local media reports put at around 150 intotal, were mainly within commercial and retail banking and werepartly a preemptive measure due to the expectation of slowergrowth forecasts next year, a source familiar with the mattertold Reuters.
"As flagged in our Investor Update, we have targetedsignificant cost reductions by the end of 2017, and wecontinually review and manage our overall headcountrequirements," an HSBC spokeswoman said.
The bank employs more than 8,000 people in the Middle Eastand North Africa. (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Tom Arnold; Editing by AlexSmith, David French and Mark Potter)