The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received the 54th annual report of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). The report 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 today by the Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, SAMA Governor Dr. Ahmed AlKholifey, and SAMA deputy governors. The report covers monetary and banking developments. It also highlights the developments of balance of payments and the latest developments of the external sector, public finance, and oil and non-oil sectors, including activities of insurance, finance and capital market. In addition, it provides time series data for public finance and oil statistics, monetary and banking statistics, and real sector statistics. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques pointed out the strong financial position of Saudi Arabia besides the security and stability it enjoys. He lauded SAMA's efforts to serve the national economy and wished all every success.
On this occasion, SAMA Governor, Dr. Ahmed A. Alkholifey, delivered a speech in which he reviewed key indicators in SAMA's 54th Annual Report for fiscal year 2017. 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 stated that the Saudi economy has witnessed a series of reforms and economic programs to meet the expectations and aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030. The Council of Economic and Development Affairs approved 12 programs in 2017. These programs serve the new development approach and fulfill the expectations of Saudi citizens. 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 efficient platform to encourage investment, diversify investor base, and incentivize savings.
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 SAR 57.1 billion in 2017, against a deficit of SAR 89.4 billion in 2016. Additionally, the banking sector achieved outstanding performance indicators. Total assets of commercial banks grew by 2.2 percent to over SAR 2 trillion. Bank capital and reserves went up by 6.3 percent to SAR 318 billion. The average capital adequacy ratio (Basel Standard) stood at 20.4 percent, which would support the resilience of financial sector and its capability to withstand financial crises.
The Governor indicated that there were several positive indicators that contributed to the development of the financial sector in 2017. Moreover, the monetary policy adopted by SAMA has contributed to foster the stability of exchange rate and provision of necessary liquidity to support economic activities. This was achieved through broad money supply (M3) that rose by 0.2 percent.
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.
