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Saudi Arabia Allocates $2.9 Billion for SMEs

Biban 2023 - Saudi Arabia’s largest start-up, SME, and entrepreneurship conference – kicked off on Thursday at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Biban 2023 - Saudi Arabia’s largest start-up, SME, and entrepreneurship conference – kicked off on Thursday at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Allocates $2.9 Billion for SMEs

Biban 2023 - Saudi Arabia’s largest start-up, SME, and entrepreneurship conference – kicked off on Thursday at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Biban 2023 - Saudi Arabia’s largest start-up, SME, and entrepreneurship conference – kicked off on Thursday at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi financing agencies announced the allocation of 11 billion riyals ($2.9 billion) for entrepreneurship projects and SMEs in the Kingdom.

This came during the launching of Biban 2023 - Saudi Arabia’s largest start-up, SME, and entrepreneurship conference – which kicked off on Thursday at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Center.

Organized by Monsha’at - the Saudi General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises – the conference is attended by 350 speakers representing entrepreneurs, investors and experts from around the world, more than 120 public and private entities, and 750 exhibitors.

Monsha’at Governor Sami Al-Husseini said thanks to government support, the number of SMEs in the Kingdom grew to more than 1.141 million by the end of 2022.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said: “We are working on several methods and incentives to attract entrepreneurship in the fields of Hajj and Umrah.” He noted that financial technology (FinTech) was a fertile field for entrepreneurs in the Hajj sector.

Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi explained that startups and medium-sized companies employed more than 6 million people in Saudi Arabia. He added that more than two million Saudis are working in the private sector.

“The government has involved the private sector in the employment process, which has created different job opportunities for young men and women... The number of workers in the private sector have exceeded that of government employees,” he remarked.

Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser stated that various government sectors, including transportation and logistics, were supported by SMEs.

Addressing a panel at the conference, he said: “Many of the initiatives today are not suitable for large companies, and are therefore a golden opportunity for SMEs... Most of the applications related to the transportation sector started with simple ideas by entrepreneurs, and today they compete with many large companies.”

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef stressed that promoting local content activity was an excellent opportunity, adding that the Biban 2023 forum will witness the launch of unique industrial projects.

“Supporting small and emerging industrial companies establishes a successful work system in Saudi Arabia. Young people must make sufficient efforts to search for promising opportunities in various fields of industry,” he added.

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

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