The bank credit granted to the trade sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia registered a growth of 6.7% by the end of the third quarter of this year on an annual basis, to reach about 309.37 billion riyals, compared to 289.82 billion riyals, thus recording a net lending of 19.55 billion riyals for the period.
According to SAMA’s data, the volume of credit to the commercial sector recorded its highest level in two and a half years since the first quarter of 2018, and thus credit to the commercial sector recorded an annual growth for the sixth consecutive quarter, as it grew in the second quarter of 2019 by about 0.8 then 1.3% for the third quarter and 2% for the fourth quarter, while the first quarter of this year grew by 10.8%, as well as a growth of 6% in the second quarter.
On a quarterly basis, the trade sector, which is the largest sector financed by banks out of the total main sectors, registered a growth of 0.83% compared to the second quarter, to record its growth for the third consecutive quarter. Despite the growth, the share of the commercial sector in the total bank lending portfolio fell to about 17.87%, compared to 19.3% for the same period of the previous year.
In addition, the commercial sector recorded a growth in the volume of its loans for the past year 2019 by about 2%, to record a net lending of about 5.58 billion riyals for the period, while it contracted by 10.4% in 2018, recording the largest contraction in 19 years. On the other hand, the volume of bank credit provided to the private sector at the end of the third quarter recorded a growth of 15.21%, to about 1.66 trillion riyals, compared to 1.44 trillion riyals, and net lending amounted to 219.81 billion riyals.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
