SAMA net foreign assets rise to SR2.747 trillion

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s M3 money supply growth accelerated to a three-month high of 13.2 percent year-on-year in July from 12.3 percent in the previous month, central bank data showed on Wednesday.
Bank lending growth to the private sector slowed to a three-month low of 11.8 percent in July from 12.3 percent in June.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s (SAMA) net foreign assets rose to a record high of SR2.747 trillion ($732 billion) in July from SR2.737 trillion in June. They were up 7.8 percent from a year ago.
The NCB Saudi Economic Review released recently said that banks in the Kingdom have benefitted from the robust economy as they are able to extend credit lines to growing businesses, which in turn, translated to record profits for financial entities.
The depositary base reached an all-time high at SR1.5 trillion, increasing 12.7 percent on an annual basis by the end of June.
Banks’ total deposits have been growing at double digits for the past couple of years as oil prices remain elevated and supportive of a liquid economy, said the report.
According to the economic review, the majority of deposits are demand based with a share of 62.8 percent as they climbed 14.1 percent Y/Y during June.
It said businesses and individuals hold 93.8 percent of demand deposits while government entities make up the remaining 6.2 percent portion.
However, government entities have been decreasing their demand deposits, 19.2 percent Y/Y during June. The government’s time and savings deposits have meanwhile increased by 28.4 percent , adding SR33.7 billion YTD to reach SR183.7 billion in June.
Opting for yielding assets reflects the willingness to utilize resources.
On the other hand, businesses and individuals are more inclined to- wards riskier alternatives given that their level of time and savings deposits stagnated at SAR176.5 billion, an annual gain of 0.1 percent.
Additionally, other quasi-monetary deposits grew by 6.1 percent annually as foreign currency deposits increased by 5.7 percent Y/Y annually during the month of June.