RIYADH, 29 November — Expatriate workers in the Kingdom remitted SR40.8 billion ($10.8 billion) during the first nine months of this year, according to a quarterly report issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.
The purchase of foreign exchange by Saudi banks was SR283 billion ($75.48 billion) during the same period. Liabilities of the private sector to local banks rose from SR178.53 billion in the second quarter to SR182.73 billion in the third quarter.
Twenty-one percent of the SR185.34 billion credits provided by the banks to various economic sectors in the third quarter were long-term, while 17 percent medium-term and 62 percent short-term loans.
A sum of SR35.432 billion was drawn on ATM cards in the period while in the first quarter the amount was SR30.34 billion. The number of automatic teller machines rose from 2,309 at the end of the first quarter to 2,369 in the second quarter and 2,456 in the third quarter.
The number of the ATM cards used in the Kingdom reached 5,423,376 by the end of September while in the second quarter it was 5,185,807 and 4,923,166 at the end of the first quarter.
The private sector’s liabilities to the local banks rose from SR178.53 billion in the second quarter to SR182.73 billion in the third quarter at the rate of 2.3 percent.
On the other hand, the public sector liabilities grew from SR124.37 billion in the first quarter to SR130.42 billion in the second quarter and SR133.45 billion in the third quarter.
The number of POS (point of sale) units reached 18,975 with 5,976,265 transactions worth SR2.66 billion in the third quarter.
The cash supply in the third quarter was estimated at SR320. 31 billion, a 1.1 percent drop from the second quarter and a three percent drop from the first quarter.
The revenue earned by the private establishments financed by banks was SR35.72 billion in the third quarter with a 14 percent increase from the second quarter when it was SR31.39 billion, the report said.
The Saudi central bank in its 37th annual report released on Monday said the Kingdom’s balance of payments improved considerably during the past year with the current accounts surplus rising from SR1.5 billion in 1999 to SR53.7 billion in 2000.
The report attributed the growth to a 57.9 percent rise in the value of Kingdom's oil exports. The value of Saudi oil exports last year stood at SR264.9 billion against SR167.8 billion in the previous year.
The non-oil exports were estimated at SR24.8 billion, up 13.9 percent from SR21.8 billion of 1999. SAMA expects a continued rise in the balance of payments this fiscal year.
