Saudi Money Supply Growth Accelerates To 9.8% In June Vs May

Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012

LONDON (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabia's money supply growth accelerated to 9.8% on year in June, compared with 7.7% in May, data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, or SAMA, showed.

M3, the broadest measure of money supply and an indicator of future inflation, was 1.286 trillion Saudi riyals ($338.1 billion) in June, up from SAR1.171 trillion in the year earlier, and higher than the SAR1.265 trillion in May, according to the data posted on SAMA's website.

SAMA's net foreign assets rose to SAR2.216 trillion in June, from SAR2.188 trillion in May, and SAR1.851 trillion in June 2011.

Saudi Arabia, which has filled its coffers with surplus income from oil exports over the last decade, has drawn on its reserves to fund record budgets and keep its $400 billion five-year infrastructure development program on track. Last year, it earmarked additional funds to implement housing projects amid political unrest across the wider region.

Lending to the private sector rose to SAR933.4 billion in June, from SAR916.7 billion in the month earlier, and up from SAR819.5 billion in June 2011.

-By Iman Dawoud, Dow Jones Newswires; +971 55 1093341; iman.dawoud@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-08-12 0751GMT