RIYADH, 30 December 2002 — Total assets of Saudi commercial banks rose to a new record high of $135.3 billion at the end of November, up one percent over October’s 133.9 billion, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) reported yesterday.
The assets of the 10 commercial banks have increased seven percent over their level a year ago and by 7.3 percent since the end of last year, SAMA reported in its monthly statistics.
Total bank assets were $127.9 billion at the end of the first quarter this year and $131.9 billion at the end of the second quarter, up on the 126 billion dollars at the end of 2001. Liquidity reached $99.7 billion at the end of November, up 1.6 percent over October’s $98.1 billion , and 13.2 percent higher than the end of 2001 when it reached $88.1 billion, SAMA added.
Liquidity continued to increase during the past 12 months as economic reports spoke of fund repatriation following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and of fewer funds leaving the Kingdom.
Most of the banks are held by the private sector but the government also has sizeable stakes. The growth of assets was due to a rise in bank claims on the private sector. Claims on the private sector rose 0.8 percent at the end of November to $57.1 billion over their October level of $56.6 billion. These claims surged 14.8 percent from $48.7 billion at the end of the third quarter last year to $55.9 billion on Sept. 30 this year, mainly due to an increase in borrowing as a result of low interest rates.
Commercial bank claims on the government sector dropped slightly to $34.2 billion on Nov. 30 from $34.5 billion on Oct. 31, after declining from $36.2 billion at the end of last year. The government uses bank credit to partially meet its debt which reached a staggering $173 billion this year. The remaining part is financed by two public pension funds. Deposits rose 0.4 percent at the end of November over their October 31 level of $85 billion. They rose 13.7 percent since the start of 2001. The growth of deposits is partly attributed to the repatriation of some funds from overseas following the Sept. 11 attacks. (AFP)
