Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) said that about 16% of banks’ loans have been injected into the real estate sector compared to 2% for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), said the governor Ahmed Alkholifey.
SAMA plans to increase loans for the SMEs, Alkholifey added, noting that the banking sector’s solvency in the Kingdom exceeds 19%, and the liquid assets ratio to total assets amount to 20%.
SAMA governor indicated that the Saudi banking sector is robust, while non-performing loans (NPLs) account for 1.4% of total loans.
The Saudi body’s reserves are sufficient to meet imports of the coming 40 months.
In October, Alkholifey stated that the Saudi banks passed the 'pressure tests' and there are no worries over the NPLs.
