Net foreign assets in the Kingdom’s banking sector fell slightly to SAR 1.47 tn in February, down from SAR 1.48 tn in January, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s (Sama) latest monthly bulletin (pdf).

The breakdown: Sama’s net foreign assets remained nearly flat at SAR 1.7 tn. However, commercial banks saw their net foreign assets deficit widen significantly to SAR 230.8 bn in February, up from SAR 212.9 bn a month earlier.

The total assets of commercial banks hit SAR 5.07 tn by the end of February, up from SAR 5.02 tn in January, representing an 8.9% y-o-y increase. Total bank credit across all maturities rose 9.6% y-o-y to SAR 3.33 tn by the end of the month.

Personal loans remain the heavyweight of the credit market, accounting for more than SAR 1.45 tn. This was followed by corporate credit to real estate activities at SAR 400.4 bn, wholesale and retail trade at SAR 215.2 bn, and electricity, gas, and water supplies at SAR 217.5 bn.

MEANWHILE- Residential mortgages financed by banks declined 13.2% m-o-m to SAR 5.37 bn in February. This covered 8.35k new contracts, down from 9k in January.

Settled letters of credit (LCs) financing private sector imports stood at SAR 13.2 bn in February, a 4.3% y-o-y decrease. Building materials took the largest slice at SAR 2.77 bn, followed by motor vehicles (SAR 2.12 bn), food items (SAR 1.23 bn), appliances (SAR 1 bn), and machinery (SAR 554 mn).

New letters of credit — our look-ahead at future imports — totaled SAR 11.75 bn by the end of the month. This included SAR 3.1 bn for building materials, SAR 2.89 bn for motor vehicles, SAR 912 mn for appliances, SAR 590 mn for machinery, and SAR 379 mn for food items.

ALSO- Broad money supply (M3) grew 8.4% y-o-y to SAR 3.29 tn in February. Demand deposits made up 45.2% of the total, followed by time and savings deposits (36.5%), other quasi-money deposits (10.8%), and banknotes in circulation outside banks (7.5%). Total liabilities in the survey reached SAR 5.57 tn, up 6.3% y-o-y.

SOUND SMART- M3 is the broadest measure of money supply in an 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 continued their upward climb in February: Government and quasi-government bonds rose to SAR 658.2 bn, an 8.5% increase compared to February 2025. Meanwhile, bank credit to public sector enterprises reached SAR 251.9 bn, up 17.2% y-o-y.

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