By: El Sayed Gamal
Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi banks increased their government bond holdings by 25.6%, or SAR 74.54 billion, year-on-year in August 2019, according to recent data released by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).
Saudi banks’ holdings of government and semi-government bonds jumped to SAR 365.3 billion in August, compared to SAR 290.76 billion in the corresponding month a year earlier.
Month-on-month, the kingdom’s bank investments in government bonds went up 1.89% or SAR 6.77 billion during the eighth month of the year.
It is worth noting that the GCC nation plans to issue bonds worth SAR 118 billion during 2019 in a bid to finance the budget deficit of the current fiscal year.
Translated by: Muhammad Abdul-Wakeel
