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SAMA: Total Assets of Saudi Finance Companies Sector Grows by 13% in 2023

SAMA: Total Assets of Saudi Finance Companies Sector Grows by 13% in 2023
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SAMA: Total Assets of Saudi Finance Companies Sector Grows by 13% in 2023

SAMA: Total Assets of Saudi Finance Companies Sector Grows by 13% in 2023

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) released on Monday the Annual Performance Report of the Saudi Finance and Real Estate Refinance Companies Sector for the year 2023.

The report highlighted the sector's developments and financials during 2023, noting that the paid-up share capital for the finance companies sector increased by 6% to SAR 15.5 billion, total assets by 13% to SAR 64.2 billion, and the total finance portfolio by 12% to SAR 84.7 billion.

The report also highlighted that the net income of the finance companies sector stood at SAR 1.7 billion and the total assets of the real estate refinancing sector witnessed an increase of 48%, reaching SAR 31 billion.

In terms of loan portfolio classification, the retail sector accounted for the largest share at 77%, followed by the MSME sector at 20%, and the corporate sector at 3%.

By the end of 2023, the number of employees (male and female) working in finance companies topped 6,000, with Saudis accounting for 86% of the total.

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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.