Arab News, Monday, Jan 17, 2022 | Jamada Al-Aakhirah 14, 1443
Government deposits with SAMA in biggest monthly drop since 2016
Saudi Arabia:
The government’s deposits with the Saudi Central
Bank fell by SR74.7 billion ($19.9 billion) during December to reach
SR538, preliminary data posted by SAMA revealed.This change represents the
biggest monthly drawdown of government deposits with SAMA since November 2016
when they fell by SR90.3 billion.
At the same time during December 2021, net foreign
assets held by the Saudi Central Bank dropped by 2 percent from November to
SR1.64 trillion, according to preliminary data.
Compared to December 2020, SAMA's net foreign
assets fell 2.4 percent.
In addition, the Kingdom’s monetary base – which
is the sum of currency outside banks, cash in vaults and bank deposits with SAMA
– edged up by 0.5 percent in December on a month-on-month basis to
reach SR356 billion.