Riyadh – Mubasher: Financing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Saudi Arabia increased by 8.05% or SAR 8.74 billion by the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019.

Total finances amounted to SAR 117.26 billion by the end of last year, compared with SAR 108.52 billion by the end of the previous year.

Funds provided to MSMEs increased during the last three months of 2019 by 1.4% on a quarterly basis, as Q4-19 witnessed SAR 1.65 billion of MSME finances, compared with SAR 115.61 billion by the end of Q3-19, as shown by the data of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

Moreover, financing MSMEs accounted for 6% of the total loans provided by the Saudi banking sector and finance firms, maintain the same share recorded by the end of 2018.

Medium-sized businesses, with revenues between SAR 40 million and SAR 200 million or 50-249 employee staffs, dominated 72.6% of the total finances with SAR 85.16 billion, after receiving funds of SAR 7.06 billion throughout last year.

Meanwhile, small projects, with a 6-49 employee staffs or SAR 3-40 million revenue, increasing by 5.6% on a yearly basis, while micro-projects, with staffs of less than 3 employees or revenues less than SAR 3 million, obtained SAR 5.15 billion of finances, compared with SAR 4.9 billion for the same period in 2018.

It is worth noting that banks presented 92.08% of MSME finances last year, while finance firms granted 7.92% of the total.

Data further showed that bank finances to MSMEs grew by 7.15% on an annual basis, while funds by finance companies increased by 19.77%.