May 29, 2012
Saudi American Bank Group (Samba) has said the kingdom’s net foreign assets are to jump by $356bn in the next two years to an all-time high of just below $1trn amid high oil prices, Saudi Gazette has reported. At the end of 2013, the assets controlled by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) could peak $926bn, at which level the assets will account for nearly 144% of the kingdom’s projected GDP of $642bn, the lender said in its quarterly report on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil producers. The current account surplus would swell from around 27.8% of GDP in 2011 to 33% in 2012 before falling back to 23% in 2013, the report added.
