Saudi assets fall slightly in Sept

Saudi Arabia’s foreign assets reversed a steady growth most of 2013 and declined slightly at the end of September although they remained at one of their highest levels in the Gulf Kingdom’s history, according to official data.

From around SR2,668 billion (Dh2,642 billion) at the end of August, the assets controlled by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), central bank, slipped to nearly SR2,660 billion (Dh2,634 billion) at the end of September.

SAMA’s figures showed all the increase was in “other asses”, which slumped to SR17.3 billion from SR34.9 billion in the same period.
Deposits with banks abroad increased to SR479 billion from around SR471 billion while investment in foreign securities soared an all time high of SR1,933 billion from nearly SR1,922 billion, SAMA said in its monthly bulletin.

It showed total assets gained around SR185 billion in the first nine months of 2013, an average monthly rise of nearly SR20.5 billion.
Analysts said the surge in assets this year meant that Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and the world’s dominant oil exporter, was earning much more than it was spending. They expected a small budgeted surplus to record a sharp rise at the end of the year as was the case in the previous two years.

Saudi Arabia projected 2013 revenue at SR829 billion and expenditure at a record high of SR820 billion, with a budgeted surplus of SRnine billion.

Independent forecasts showed the surplus could rocket by 20-30 times at the end of 2013 despite an expected rise in spending.
 “Based on our forecast of oil prices at $110 a barrel, we project a fiscal surplus of SR277 billion or 9.5 per cent of GDP,” National Commercial Bank (NCB) said.

“This will result in oil revenues of SR1,043.5 billion, representing a decrease of 8.5 per cent compared to actual oil revenues in 2012, which also takes into account a 3.7 per cent decline in export volume.”

Saudi Arabia had forecast a small deficit in 2012 but at the end of the year, it turned into a massive surplus of SR387 billion, the Kingdom’s second highest fiscal surplus after the record 2008 balance of SR581 billion.

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