The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has received the 54th annual report of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), which reviews the economic and financial developments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the year 2017.
The report was presented to the King at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah Wednesday by the Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, SAMA Governor Dr. Ahmed AlKholifey, and SAMA deputy governors.
King Salman lauded SAMA's efforts to serve the national economy and wished all every success.
On this occasion, Dr. Alkholifey delivered a speech in which he reviewed key indicators in SAMA's report. He indicated that the Council of Economic and Development Affairs adopted a number of economic policies aimed at enhancing the economic infrastructure and achieving the developmental objectives stemming from the Saudi Vision 2030.
The Governor mentioned that the Saudi economy witnessed a number of positive indicators. Most notably, the non-oil sector GDP recorded a positive growth of 1.05 percent. The current account registered a surplus of SAR57.1 billion in 2017, against a deficit of SAR89.4 billion in 2016. Additionally, the banking sector achieved outstanding performance indicators. Total assets of commercial banks grew by 2.2 percent to over SAR2 trillion. Bank capital and reserves went up by 6.3 percent to SAR318 billion. The average capital adequacy ratio (Basel Standard) stood at 20.4 percent, which would support the resilience of the financial sector and its capability to withstand financial crises.
At the beginning of 2018, a plan was approved to implement the Financial Sector Development Program that is aimed at promoting broad and diversified financial services, building advanced infrastructure, and developing the insurance sector. The program also focuses on developing the capital market through the provision of an efficient platform to encourage investment, diversify investor base, and incentivize savings.
The Governor mentioned that SAMA continuously seeks to develop the infrastructure of payment systems in Saudi Arabia to enable domestic banks to provide comprehensive payment instruments for individuals as well as commercial and public sectors, such as launching a number of significant projects that aimed at enhancing the e-payment infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and stimulating the engagement of the banking system.
