RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's money supply rose 17.2 percent on the year in April, and the central bank's foreign assets increased 13.2 percent year on year, data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) data showed. M3, the broadest measure of money supply, was SR1.175 trillion ($313.4 billion) in April, up from SR1.003 trillion in the same month a year ago and from SR1.150 trillion in March, according to data posted on SAMA's website. Net foreign assets rose to SR1.756 trillion in April from SR1.729 trillion in March and SR1.552 trillion in April last year, the data showed. Lending to the private sector edged higher to SR802.5 billion last month from SR798.2 billion in the month earlier and up from SR750.6 billion in April 2010. Meanwhile, SAMA kept its key interest rates unchanged for June. SAMA held its overnight reverse repurchase rate at 0.25 per cent and the benchmark repurchase rate at 2 percent. Sama last cut its overnight reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 percent in June 2009 During the boom years, bank claims on the private sector tripled between 2003 and 2008. Earlier this year, SAMA's Governor Mohammed Al Jasser said bank lending is expected to accelerate this year.
