Saudi foreign reserves decline on lag between import payments, export receipts: SAMA Governor

Fahad Al-Mubarak, Governor of SAMA 

A recent drop to record lows in Saudi Arabia's foreign reserves was partly due to a lag between import payments and export receipts, Fahad Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), told Reuters.

"Reductions in reserves over the past couple of months were mainly to finance a rebound in pandemic-hit import demand, while leads-and-lags in oil income (tax and dividends) cause some degree of fluctuation in SAMA's reserves level," Al-Mubarak said.

"The rebound in import activity, which hit a low figure in May 2020, has preceded that in exports receipts. These shifts are expected given the extraordinary economic impacts over the last 18 months as economic conditions become more normalized," Al-Mubarak added.

The total assets held by SAMA dropped by SAR 5.6 billion month-on-month in May to SAR 1.826 trillion.