Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority’s (SAMA) foreign reserve assets declined 12.4% to SAR 1.82 trillion ($485 billion) year-on-year in September, from SAR 2.087 trillion ($553 billion), according to its monthly report.

The Kingdom’s foreign reserve assets shed 0.5% to reach SAR 1.82 trillion in September, compared to SAR 1.83 trillion in the previous month, the SAMA added.

The value of securities’ investments stood at SAR 1.2 trillion by the end of September, compared to SAR 1.4 trillion in the corresponding month in the year earlier.

Year-on-year, the Saudi cash abroad tumbled to SAR 556 billion in September 2017, from SAR 649.1 billion.

The Kingdom’s reserves in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached SAR 7.1 billion in September 2017, compared to SAR 7.6 billion in the same month in 2016.

Year-on-year, the special drawing rights (SDRs) increased to SAR 29 billion in September, from SAR 28.7 billion.

The Kingdom’s monetary gold remained unchanged at SAR 1.62 billion.

The Saudi reserve assets include investments in securities abroad, foreign cash and deposits abroad, the status of the country’s reserves in the IMF, SDRs, and monetary gold.