Saudi financial sector well-positioned, survives COVID-19 impact: SAMA Governor

The banking, finance and insurance sectors are in a good position as they managed to survive the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fahad Almubarak, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), said on the sidelines of the Financial Stability Forum.

Saudi banks have been well-positioned over the previous decades due to SAMA’s keenness to implement all the necessary global criteria.

They also managed to withstand the negative impact of the pandemic, thanks to efficient management and resilience, Almubarak indicated, adding that the central bank contributed to boosting the economic performance.

This was driven by launching the loan deferral program, which delayed the payment of more than 100,000 loan agreements worth SAR 200 billion, to help small businesses cope with the fallout of the pandemic. Further, more than 7,000 loan agreements worth SAR 13 billion benefited from the SMEs Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah), while SAR 50 billion worth of financing were injected into banks. SAMA also cut the e-payments fees by SAR 1.2 billion.

In addition, Almubarak said that SAMA is ensuring and monitoring the efficiency of these programs.