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Value of Saudi Exports Recorded $1.1b Increase in March

 Container shipping operations at King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu (western Saudi Arabia) (Asharq Al-Awsat)
 Container shipping operations at King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu (western Saudi Arabia) (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Value of Saudi Exports Recorded $1.1b Increase in March

 Container shipping operations at King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu (western Saudi Arabia) (Asharq Al-Awsat)
 Container shipping operations at King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu (western Saudi Arabia) (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Recent statistics showed a rise in the value of Saudi merchandise exports in March by 4.4 billion riyals ($1.1 billion), or 4.4 percent, compared to February, while the value of non-oil exports increased by about 1.5 billion riyals ($400 million), or by 7.2 percent over the same period.

On Thursday, the International Trade Bulletin for the month of March, issued by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), revealed a decrease in the Kingdom’s overall merchandise exports by 25.3 percent year-on-year in March, as the value of exports amounted to 142 million riyals in the same month of 2022.

GASTAT pointed out that this year-on-year decrease in exports was primarily driven by a decrease in oil shipments, which fell 26.5 percent in March to 83.1 billion riyals.

Non-oil exports (including re-exports) decreased by 20.6 percent, to record 23 billion riyals ($6.1 billion) in March, compared to 28.9 billion riyals ($7.7 billion) in the same month of 2022.

According to the bulletin, imports rose in March by 9.8 percent, reaching 61.8 billion riyals ($16.4 billion), compared to 56.3 billion riyals ($15 billion) in the same period last year.

On a monthly basis, the value of imports increased by 8.5 percent, compared to February 2023.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.