Riyadh – Mubasher: Net foreign assets held by Saudi banks declined by 51% year-on-year (YoY) in January for the third month in a row, according to data released by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

The Saudi banking sector’s net foreign assets sank to SAR 57 billion at the end of January, compared to SAR 116.41 billion in the same month a year earlier, data showed.

It is noteworthy that net foreign assets are the sum of foreign assets held by banks in the kingdom, less their foreign liabilities.

The drop in net foreign assets is ascribed to a remarkable rise in liabilities outweighing the growth in the value of assets.

Month-on-month, net foreign assets of Saudi banks fell by 19.1% from SAR 70.48 billion in December 2019.

The value of foreign liabilities owed by Saudi banks rose by 68.8% to SAR 183.67 billion in January, compared to SAR 108.8 billion in the corresponding month in 2019.

Meanwhile, the value of foreign assets held by banks in the kingdom increased by 6.87% YoY to SAR 240.68 billion in January from SAR 225.21 billion.