Saudi Arabia's money supply grew 14.8 percent on the year in August, compared with 13.1 percent in July, while the central bank's foreign assets increased 19.4 percent compared with August 2010, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said. The Saudi central bank data said M3, the broadest measure of money supply and an indicator of future inflation, was SR1.175 trillion ($313.4 billion) in August, up from SR1.023 trillion a year earlier and from SR1.170 trillion in July, according to data posted on SAMA's website. SAMA's net foreign assets rose to SR1.879 trillion in August from SR1.877 trillion in July and SR1.574 trillion in August 2010, the data showed. 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. It earlier earmarked additional funds to implement housing projects. Bank lending to the private sector rose to SR837.6 billion last month from SR831.5 billion in the month earlier and up from SR766.8 billion in August 2010. Bank claims on the private sector tripled between the boom years 2003 to 2008. Earlier this year, SAMA Governor Mohammed Al-Jasser said bank lending is expected to accelerate this year, adding that lenders in the Kingdom "are fully capable of executing" Basel III requirements.
