Riyadh: Saudi money supply growth was steady at 3.7 per cent on the year in November compared with the previous month, and the central bank's foreign assets increased 11.5 per cent year on year, data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, SAMA, showed yesterday.
M3, the broadest measure of money supply, came in at 1.061 trillion Saudi riyals ($283.01 billion) in November, up from 1.023 trillion riyals in the same month a year ago, and from 1.041 trillion riyals in October, according to data posted on SAMA's website.
SAMA's net foreign assets rose to 1.627 trillion riyals in November from 1.610 trillion in October and 1.459 trillion riyals in November 2009, the data showed. Saudi Arabia has filled its coffers with surplus income from oil exports this decade, and drawn on its reserves to fund record budgets and keep its $400 billion five-year infrastructure development programme on track.
While this spending helped the Arab world's largest economy grow last year, according to the kingdom's budget released last December, banks have been hesitant to extend credit.
Lending to the private sector edged down to 776.3 billion riyals in November from 777.9 billion the month earlier and up from 748.8 billion riyals in Nov-ember 2009. During the boom years, bank claims on the private sector tripled between 2003 and 2008.
