SAMA governor hands over annual report to King Salman, forecasts continuous progress

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday was handed over the 55th annual report of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), which reviews the economic and financial developments in the Kingdom in 2018.

SAMA governor Ahmed Alkholifey said, during meeting with King Salman along with finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, that Saudi economy has achieved progress in different sectors in 2018 thanks to the state’s balanced economic policies, adding that the economy is set to maintain positive results in 2019.

Alkholifey also said that SAMA’s monetary policy helped maintaining stable exchange rate, and providing liquidity to support economic activities. 

He noted that SAMA seeks to diversify its investment portfolios.

“SAMA monitors the banking system to guarantee safety and enhance confidence and efficiency”, Alkholifey stated, adding that reserved assets rose 3.3 percent to SAR 1.923 billion in H1 2019.

He also said that adequacy ratio (Basel III) averaged 20.6 percent by end of the second quarter of 2019, which further strengthened the Kingdom’s financial sector.