Riyadh – Mubasher: Jadwa Investment expected an improving trend in 2017 as sentiment improves following the government delivering on multiple initiatives announced in the Fiscal Balance Program.
The research firm said that bank credit to the private sector fell in December to its lowest level since March 2010.
This slowdown in credit growth is due to the negative sentiment associated with delays in payments to contractors, the report said.
Consumer spending indicators remained negative, year-on-year, Jadwa noted saying that meanwhile, the non-oil PMI ended 2016 with an improvement from record lows witnessed in previous months..
The net monthly change to government accounts with SAMA remained negative in December, falling for the seventh consecutive month.
The negative change was mainly due to a SAR 45 billion net withdrawal from the government projects account, pointing to the recommencement of payment by the government to contractors, according to the report.
