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Saudi Arabia withdraws $27bn from current account

Saudi Arabia withdraws $27bn from current account
By Mohammed Abu Meleeh
Saudi Arabia has withdrawn SAR 101.8 billion ($27.15 billion) from the current account of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). Thus, the account declined from SAR 175.57 billion ($46.82 billion) in September to SAR 75.77 billion ($19.67 billion) at the end of October.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s general reserve increased by SAR 102.78 billion ($27.4 billion) to SAR 904.6 billion ($241.2 billion), compared with SAR 801.8 billion ($213.8 billion) at the end of September.
Saudi Arabia withdrew SAR 50 billion from its reserve at SAMA in September, the first time in five years (definitely since September 2009). This amount was added to the current account item; thus it was transferred to SAMA’s liabilities, according to financial analysts.
SAMA’s assets increased by 0.3% to SAR 2.83 trillion ($755 billion) in October, compared with SAR 2.82 trillion ($752.98 billion) a month earlier. The assets grew by 4.02% compared with the same month of 2013.
Accordingly, SAMA’s assets recorded the lowest growth rate since April 2010 when they increased by 2.45% year-on-year.
October’s asset growth was driven mainly by the 39.06% rise in ‘cash in fund’ item, ‘foreign cash and gold’ (12.38%), ‘investments in securities overseas’ (5.07%) and ‘other diversified assets’ (0.68%). Meanwhile, deposits at banks overseas declined by 4.74%.
Translated by Abdul Maguid Aboshahla