Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi banks increased their government bond holdings by 23.68%, or SAR 67.33 billion, year-on-year during the first six months of 2019.

Saudi banks’ holdings of government and semi-government bonds jumped to SAR 351.62 billion in H1-19, compared to SAR 284.29 billion in H1-18, according to recent data released by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

On a quarterly basis, Saudi banks’ holdings levelled up by 4.6% during the second quarter of 2019.

It is worth noting that the GCC nation plans to issue bonds worth SAR 118 billion during 2019 in a bid to finance the budget deficit of the current fiscal year.