Time, savings deposits in Saudi Arabia record highest growth in 16 years: Argaam Tools

Time and savings deposits in Saudi bank grew at the fastest pace in nearly 16 years, since March 2007.

Time and savings deposits rose 33% year-on-year (YoY) in November 2022 to SAR 635.3 billion, according to the latest data issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).

These deposits also jumped 32% YoY to SAR 654.8 billion in December 2022.

The growth in time and savings deposits came after SAMA hiked interest rates seven times last year.

The following table illustrates the total value of time and savings deposits since January 2021:

Source: Argaam Tools

Demand deposits fall for two straight months

On the other hand, demand deposits fell on an annual basis for the first time since February 2017, reaching SAR 1.329 trillion in November.

They continued the downturn for the second consecutive month, dropping 2% to stand at SAR 1.328 trillion in December, the lowest level since October 2021.

Demand deposit accounts are banks account from which deposited funds can be withdrawn at any time and without paying interest.

Source: Argaam Tools

Total deposits in the Saudi banks grew by 9% in December to an all-time high of SAR 2.29 trillion.

Source: Argaam Tools

There are three types of deposits, demand, time and savings and quasi-monetary.

The percentage of demand deposits, which account for the largest share in Saudi banks, decreased to the lowest level since December 2011 at 57.9% last December, from 64.6% in early 2022.

Source: Argaam Tools

The share of time and savings deposits rose to 28.5% from 23.5% in January 2022, hitting the highest level since September 2017.

Source: Argaam Tools