Net foreign assets in the Kingdom’s banking sector inch up in August, reaching a surplus of SAR 1.47 tn by the end of the month, compared to SAR 1.43 tn in July, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s (Sama) latest monthly statistical bulletin (pdf).

The breakdown: Sama’s net foreign assets ended July with a surplus of SAR 1.62 tn, recovering from July’s four-month low of SAR 1.58 tn. Meanwhile, commercial banks saw their deficit widen to SAR 158.3 bn by the end of the month, a significant increase from the SAR 144.6 bn deficit reported a month earlier.

The total assets of commercial banks ticked up to SAR 4.92 tn by the end of August, compared to SAR 4.83 tn in the previous month, representing a 14% y-o-y rise. Bank credit across all segments increased 14.6% y-o-y to SAR 3.2 tn by the end of the month.

Personal loans continued to dominate credit, coming in at more than SAR 1.4 tn, followed by corporate credit to real estate activities with SAR 378.8 bn, wholesale and retail trade at SAR 213.6 bn, and electricity, gas, and water supplies at around SAR 209.2 bn.

MEANWHILE- Residential mortgages financed by banks went down 11.2% y-o-y to SAR 5.9 bn during the same period, with a total of 8k contracts.

Settled letters of credit financing private sector imports decreased 6.9% y-o-y to SAR 13.5 bn by the end of August. Around SAR 2.8 bn went to vehicles, while SAR 1.7 bn was allocated to building materials, SAR 1.3 bn for food items, SAR 754 mn for machinery, and SAR 374 mn for appliances.

New letters of credit — an indicator for future imports — rose 2.9% y-o-y to SAR 13.8 bn by the end of the month. This included around SAR 2.3 bn for motor vehicles, SAR 1.6 bn for building materials, SAR 497 mn for machinery, SAR 483 mn for food items, and SAR 376 mn for appliances.

ALSO- Broad money supply (M3) increased 8.4% y-o-y to SAR 3.2 tn by the end of August. Demand deposits (47.7%) topped the list of currency supply components, followed by time and savings deposits (35.7%), other quasicash deposits (9.0%), and banknotes in circulation outside banks (7.6%). Meanwhile, total liabilities reached over SAR 5.4 tn, recording a 5.8% y-o-y increase.

SOUND SMART- M3 is the broadest measure of money supply in a given economy. It includes banknotes, current accounts, and other money that can be quickly mobilized (what econ-nerds call M2) as well as large time deposits, institutional money market funds, short-term repurchase agreements, and larger liquid funds.

Gov’t bonds rise in August after July slip: Government bonds grew 0.93% m-o-m to SAR 637.4 bn by the end of the month, returning to growth after July ended a 12-month growth streak. The figure is up 11.8% y-o-y. Meanwhile, bank credit to public institutions increased 35% y-o-y to SAR 234 bn.

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