Saudi SAMA assets drop 3% YoY in March

Riyadh - The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority's (SAMA) total assets registered a 3.1% year-on-year decrease during March 2018.

SAMA’s total assets tumbled to SAR 1.910 trillion in March 2018, from SAR 1.971 trillion during March 2017, according to its monthly report.

The year-on-year decline in SAMA assets was attributed to a 7.5% decrease in its investments in the securities abroad to hit SAR 1.211 trillion.

Investment in securities abroad for the Saudi body represented 63.4% of its total assets during March 2018.

On the other hand, SAMA’s deposits jumped 11% to SAR 392.4 billion in March 2018, compared to the same month a year earlier.

The Saudi central bank’s reserves of gold and foreign cash remained stable at SAR 235.69 billion during March 2018, near from SAR 235.82 billion in the same month in 2017.

On a monthly basis, SAMA’s assets rose 1.7% from SAR 1.877 trillion during February.