Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s foreign reserve assets inched up 0.03% year-on-year, or SAR 621 million ($165.6 million), in December, logging $496.59 billion, up from $496.42 billion, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s (SAMA) data revealed.
The growth in foreign reserve assets was attributed to a 6.9% rise in deposits and foreign cash, which registered SAR 625.76 billion last month, from SAR 582.22 billion in the same month a year earlier, the Saudi central bank added.
On the other hand, investments in overseas securities fell 3.3% to SAR 1.198 trillion by the end of 2018, compared to SAR 1.239 trillion a year earlier.
Reserves status in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose to SAR 6.19 billion in 2018, from SAR 5.78 billion in the year before.
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased year-on-year to SAR 30.33 billion during last year, from SAR 29.31 billion in 2017.
Monetary gold reserves remained stable at SAR 1.624 billion ($433 billion) by the end of 2018.
