Saudi central bank's net foreign assets hit record high

Saudi Arabia's M3 money supply growth slowed to a 14-month low of 10.4 percent year-on-year in October from 13.4 percent at the end of September, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) data showed.
Growth in bank lending to the private sector slowed to 13.5 percent, the lowest level since May 2012, from 14.6 percent.
The central bank's net foreign assets hit a record high of SR2.66 trillion ($708.8 billion) in October, Reuters reported citing SAMA data.
A report, filed by Al-Eqtisadiah daily, said the volume of customer deposits at Saudi commercial banks stood at SR1.41 trillion by the end of the third quarter of which 63 percent were demand deposits, according to a financial report.
Demand and time (saving) deposits at the Saudi banks reached SR 886.8bn and SR525.9bn (37 percent), respectively, by the end of Q3,2013,.
The volume of demand deposits grew by 19 percent by the end of Q3 compared to figures of the same period last year whereas saving deposits posted a growth rate of 4 percent, the report said.
Eight Saudi banks have their demand deposits exceeded 50 percent of their total deposits at the end of the Q3, according to the report.
Al-Rajhi Bank registered the highest ratio of demand deposits to total deposits at 88 percent in Q3, followed by Bank Albilad at 78 percent, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) at 77 percent, Banque Saudi Fransi at 62 percent, Samba Financial Group (SFG) at 61 percent, Saudi-British Bank (SABB) at 57 percent, Alinma Bank and Arab National Bank (ANB) at 54 percent and 53 percent, respectively, the report said.
The remaining four banks, namely Riyad Bank, Saudi-Holland Bank, Bank AlJazira, and the Saudi Investment Bank, have the ratio of demand deposits ranged between 22-41 percent, the report said.
In general, total deposits of the listed banks grew by 13 percent, or SR164 billion, in Q3, 2013 compared to figures of the same period last year. Eighty-seven percent of the growth depended on the expansion of demand deposits, which grew by 19 percent to hit SR143.5 billion in Q3,2013, the report said.
In terms of value, the NCB has the biggest growth of its demand deposits at SR55 billion, followed by Al-Rajhi Bank at SR21.3 billion, Banque Saudi Fransi and SABB at SR16.9 billion and SR13.9 billion respectively, the report said.