Bank credit to Saudi private sector remains resilient

04/05/2016 04:44 AST

Bank credit to the Saudi private sector remained resilient in March 2016, according to a new report from Jadwa Investment.

In March, banks rapidly increased their claims on the public sector, as their holdings of government bonds rose. It appears that banks freed up liquidity by not increasing their holdings of SAMA bills to join the sovereign bond issuance, said the report.

Economic data for March showed an increase in activity. Point of sales transactions and ATM withdrawals showed a healthy rise over the previous month. The non-oil PMI also rose for the second consecutive month, said the Jadwa report.

Net withdrawals from government accounts with SAMA reached SR36 billion in March. The decline came mainly from government current deposits and the government reserve account, according to the latest Jadwa Chartbook.

Total deposits rose in March following three consecutive monthly declines. Even though bank credit remained resilient, the healthy rise in deposits caused the loan-to-deposit ratio to fall for the first time in five months.

Inflation: In March, CPI edged upward slightly to 4.3 percent. The tobacco segment accelerated sharply from 1.6 percent in February to 19.8 percent in March, as the government applied additional fees. This is part of an earlier pledge made by the government to apply fees on harmful goods.

Stock market: Improved sentiment led to the TASI recording its highest monthly gain in over a year. Sectoral performance: All 15 sectors performed positively in April, in line with the better performance of the TASI as a whole.

First quarter 2016 results: Net-income of listed companies was flat year-on-year. Saudi crude oil production remained unchanged month- on-month in March at 10.2 million barrels per day, according to a new report from Jadwa Investment.

Brent averaged $41 per barrel and WTI $40 per barrel in April as positive sentiment linked to possible ‘freeze’ agreement when OPEC next meets in June and a weaker US dollar helped push up prices.

Arab News