Saudi Arabia’s financial and monetary indicators are good: SAMA official

Saudi Arabia’s financial and monetary indicators as well as banking resilience are good and far healthier than most countries, said Dr Fahad Aldossari, Deputy Governor for Research and International Affairs at Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

He added, during a seminar entitled “Empowering Saudi Economy during Pandemic” organized by the Communication and Financial Knowledge Center (CFKC), that the Kingdom faces no liquidity risks, nevertheless, he stressed that SAMA is capable to inject liquidity if needed through several means, including Open Market Operations.

He further stated that bank credit to the private sector posted a 12.2% growth in April, the highest since 2015.

Meanwhile, housing mortgages granted by commercial banks witnessed a remarkable growth during the first 4 months of 2020, reaching nearly 87,000 new contracts (worth SAR 38 billion), compared to 43,000 (worth SAR 19.8 billion) in the same period a year ago.

Aldossari pointed out that the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) exceeded 18.6%, while loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) and liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) surpassed 80% and 201.5%, respectively, higher than the recommendations of Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

On the COVID-19 impact, he said that the Kingdom played an influential role in mitigating the effects of the pandemic, through its G20 effective leadership and efforts to support the recovery of global economy.