SAMA, the Saudi central bank, regulates and controls the Saudi banking sector. Financing is available under SAMA regulations to Saudi and non-Saudi businessmen and entities.
The suggestion was made at the 42nd ordinary session of the council held on Sunday under the chairmanship of the council's Vice Chairman Bandar Hamzah.
The house felt such a study would shed light on the future prospects of credit schemes.
The Consumer Credit Regulations (CCR) apply to consumer credit provided by banks in the Kingdom. Consumer credit is defined under the CCR to include loans to individuals, households and family members for non-commercial activities. This includes personal loans, overdraft facilities, car loans, payment card loans and financial leases.
There are a number of specialized credit institutions established by the government that provide credit to Saudi individuals and companies.
Under the Kingdom's investor credit program, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund is the most important of the credit institutions in the country.
It is linked to the Ministry of Industry and Electricity and has particular relevance for joint ventures. Its objective is to encourage Saudis in the private sector to establish small and medium size industrial projects by providing low-cost medium and long-term capital.
In addition, the fund provides marketing, technical and financial advice to all projects it finances to enhance their chances of success.
The Public Investment Fund was established in 1971 to provide medium and long-term loans to large-scale government and private industrial projects that Saudi commercial banks fail to finance.
The Real Estate Development Fund provides medium or long-term loans to individuals or organizations for private or commercial housing projects.
In another development, the council requested the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to consider framing a national policy for the development of science and technology that could be harnessed for the economic, scientific and technological development of the country.
Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammed Al-Ghamdi said members also recommended that local businessmen who have invested more than SR500 million in various development projects in the Kingdom should allocate a percentage of their expenditure for research and development in their respective fields of business.
