Saudi current account surplus rises to 149.8 billion riyals

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s current account surplus rose to 149.8 billion riyals (Dh146.7 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2012 from 140.7 billion in the previous three months, central bank estimates showed.

That puts the 2012 surplus at 617.9 billion riyals, or 22.7 percent of the OPEC member’s gross domestic product, according to a Reuters calculation based on the official data, down from the 669.2 billion previously announced.