RIYADH — The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) recorded a huge jump in its assets, classified as miscellaneous assets, by 3,344 percent, reaching SR120.18 billion last September, compared to SR3.49 billion recorded in the same month of 2019, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from government reports. This annual increase, amounting to SR116.69 billion, means the retention of its assets through unconventional mechanisms, which do not include investments in securities or deposits abroad, and are also not classified as domestic money, foreign exchange cover, or investments in gold. This huge increase coincided with the decline of the central bank's deposits in banks abroad to their lowest levels in a year, which fell to SR335.79 billion, after it was SR404.31 billion a year ago, a decrease of 16.95 percent, losing SR68.53 billion. Moreover, the investments of SAMA in securities abroad decreased to SR1.067 trillion, after these investments amounted to approximately SR1.197 trillion during the month of September 2019, with a decline of SR130.12 billion (10.87 percent). As for the foreign exchange cap at SAMA, its value reached SR265.89 billion by the end of last September, close to its levels recorded in the same period last year, with the gold cap remaining at its levels unchanged for several years at a value of SR1.624 billion. The value of the assets in local paper currencies is amounted to SR31.43 billion, while the coins amounted to SR25 million.
