Saudi Edition 
Egypt Edition 
UAE Edition 
MENA <> India Corridor 
Logistics (MENA) 
Climate (MENA) 
Share
Net foreign assets’ surplus in the Kingdom’s banking sector declined for the second consecutive month in October to SAR 1.42 tn, down from SAR 1.45 tn in September, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s (Sama) latest monthly statistical bulletin (pdf).
The breakdown: Sama’s net foreign assets ended October with a surplus of SAR 1.57 tn, down from SAR 1.6 tn in September. Meanwhile, commercial banks saw their deficit soaring to SAR 154.9 bn in October from SAR 146.5 bn a month earlier.
The total assets of commercial banks inched up to SAR 4.94 tn by the end of October, compared to just under SAR 4.93 tn in the previous month, representing a 13% y-o-y rise. Bank credit across all segments increased 13.8% y-o-y to SAR 3.3 tn by the end of the month.
Personal loans continued to dominate credit, coming in at more than SAR 1.43 tn, followed by corporate credit to real estate activities with SAR 383 bn, wholesale and retail trade at SAR 215 bn, and electricity, gas, and water supplies at around SAR 213.4 bn.
MEANWHILE- Residential mortgages financed by banks went down for the third month in a row, and it slumped 31.5% y-o-y to just above SAR 5.5 bn during the same period, with a total of 8.03k contracts.
Settled letters of credit financing private sector imports decreased 7.1% y-o-y to SAR 14.3 bn by the end of October. Around SAR 1.9 bn went to building materials, while SAR 1.8 bn was allocated to vehicles, SAR 1.4 bn for food items, SAR 658 mn for machinery, and SAR 601 mn for appliances.
New letters of credit — an indicator for future imports — surged 6.7% y-o-y to SAR 15.9 bn by the end of the month. This included around SAR 3.5 bn for motor vehicles, SAR 1.6 bn for building materials, SAR 698 mn for machinery, SAR 995 mn for food items, and SAR 988 mn for appliances.
ALSO- Broad money supply (M3) increased 6.9% y-o-y to SAR 3.1 tn by the end of October. Demand deposits (45.1%) topped the list of currency supply components, followed by time and savings deposits (37%), other quasicash deposits (10.3%), and banknotes in circulation outside banks (7.7%). Meanwhile, total liabilities reached over SAR 5.4 tn, recording a 6.9% 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 went up again in October: Government bonds jumped for the third straight month in October to SAR 648.4 bn, marking an increase of 11.8% y-o-y. Meanwhile, bank credit to public institutions increased 37.3% y-o-y to SAR 246.9 bn.
