Saudi Arabia's Liquidity Hits All-Time High of SAR2.825 Trillion

Saudi Arabia's Liquidity Hits All-Time High of SAR2.825 Trillion
TT

Saudi Arabia's Liquidity Hits All-Time High of SAR2.825 Trillion

Saudi Arabia's Liquidity Hits All-Time High of SAR2.825 Trillion

Saudi Arabia's liquidity levels continued to grow strongly, reaching SAR2,825,715 million at the end of May 2024, marking an annual growth of approximately 8.6%, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.

This represented an increase of more than SAR222,928 billion compared to the same period in 2023, which stood at SAR2,602,786 million. These levels reflect the broad money supply (M3) as reported in the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)'s monthly statistical bulletin for May 2024.

Since the beginning of the year, liquidity has grown by 4%, representing an increase of more than SAR104,757 billion. At the end of January, it stood at SAR2,720,957 million.

Liquidity levels also achieved a monthly growth of approximately 1.2%, with an increase of about SAR32,402 billion compared to the end of April of the same year when it stood at SAR2,793,313 million.

These liquidity levels strongly support economic and commercial activity, contributing effectively to the economic development process and enabling the achievement of the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. This reflects the strength and solidity of the banking and financial sector.

A breakdown of the four components of the broad money supply (M3) is as follows: Demand deposits, the largest contributor to the total money supply (M3) at 49.2%, recorded a level of SAR1,390,893 million at the end of May 2024.

Time and savings deposits, the second-largest contributor to the total money supply (M3) at 31.5%, recorded a level of SAR889,558 million.

Other quasi-money deposits amounted to SAR314,807 million, representing a contribution of approximately 11.1% to the total money supply (M3), making it the third-largest contributor. Lastly, "currency in circulation outside banks" amounted to SAR230,456 million, contributing approximately 8.2% to the total money supply (M3).

Quasi-money deposits consist of residents' deposits in foreign currencies, deposits against letters of credit, outstanding transfers, and repurchase agreements (repos) conducted by banks with the private sector.

Domestic liquidity includes M1, which comprises currency in circulation outside banks in addition to demand deposits only, and M2, which includes M1 plus time and savings deposits. The broad definition, M3, includes M2 plus other quasi-money deposits.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
TT

Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."