Riyadh – Mubasher: Bank deposits rose 1.2% year-on-year in January 2018, compared to the year-ago period, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority’s (SAMA) said on Sunday. 

Bank deposits increased to SAR 1.62 trillion during January 2018, up from SAR 1.6 trillion in the same month a year earlier, the monthly bulletin added.

On a monthly basis, deposits inched up 0.03% in the first month of the year compared to December 2017.

The SAMA’s demand deposits grew 4.5% to SAR 1.02 trillion in January versus SAR 980.57 billion in the same month the prior year.

Month-on-month, the Saudi central bank’s demand deposits increased by SAR 24 billion in January versus December 2017.

In January, bank credit edged down 0.6% to SAR 1.388 trillion from SAR 1.396 trillion in the same month the previous year.

On a monthly basis, the SAMA’s bank credit rose 0.2% in January, compared to the month before.

Long-term bank credit amounted to SAR 438.722 billion during January 2018, compared to SAR 438.737 billion in the same month a year ago, while short-term bank credit fell to SAR 680.82 billion, from SAR 696.7 billion.

The SAMA’s medium-term bank credit increased to SART 269.2 billion in the first month of 2018, from SAR 261 billion in the corresponding month in 2017.