Riyadh – Mubasher: Asset held by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) shrank by 4.9% or nearly SAR 89.5 billion month-on-month (MoM) during April 2020.

The assets stood at SAR 1.73 trillion in April, compared to SAR 1.82 trillion a month earlier, according to the monthly bulletin released by SAMA.

On an annual basis, assets fell by 9.6% as they recorded SAR 1.9 trillion in April 2019.

The decline is attributed to a drop in foreign securities investments by around SAR 95.2 billion to SAR 1.036 trillion by the end of April 2020 from SAR 1.131 trillion in March.

Foreign currencies cash cover increased to SAR 268.1 billion in April from SAR 267.2 billion in March, while gold cash cover stabilised at SAR 1.62 billion.

Deposits at banks abroad soared to SAR 369.1 billion when compared to SAR 366.8 billion.