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Saudi Banks Capital, Reserves Jump 6.3% in 2017

Saudi Banks Capital, Reserves Jump 6.3% in 2017
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Saudi Banks Capital, Reserves Jump 6.3% in 2017

Saudi Banks Capital, Reserves Jump 6.3% in 2017

The 54th SAMA Annual Report has proven the stability of the financial sector in Saudi Arabia, marking a 6.3 percent growth in the local banks' capitals and reserves in 2017. The report reviews the economic and financial developments in the kingdom during the during 2017.

SAMA Governor Dr. Ahmed AlKholifey mentioned that the Saudi economy witnessed a number of positive indicators. Most notably, the non-oil sector GDP recorded a positive growth of 1.05 percent. The current account registered a surplus of SAR57.1 billion in 2017, against a deficit of SAR89.4 billion in 2016.

He added that the banking sector achieved outstanding performance indicators. Total assets of commercial banks grew by 2.2 percent to over SAR2 trillion. Bank capital and reserves went up by 6.3 percent to SAR318 billion.

The average capital adequacy ratio (Basel Standard) stood at 20.4 percent, which would support the resilience of the financial sector and its capability to withstand financial crises, AlKholifey continued.

The Governor mentioned that SAMA continuously seeks to develop the infrastructure of payment systems in Saudi Arabia to enable domestic banks to provide comprehensive payment instruments for individuals as well as commercial and public sectors, such as launching a number of significant projects that aimed at enhancing the e-payment infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and stimulating the engagement of the banking system.

These updates coincide with the time when the Financial Sector Development Program has become a significant step towards developing the local capital market and placing it among the top ten financial markets, globally.

Through its first pillar, the program works on empowering financial institutions to support the growth of the private sector. Through its second pillar, it seeks to develop an advanced financial market. The program encourages through its third pillar reinforcing and enabling the financial planning.

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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)
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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."