RIYADH — The total personal remittances of expatriates in Saudi Arabia during the first seven months of 2022 reached about SR88.16 billion, according to the monitoring of Okaz/Saudi Gazette based on government reports. Personal remittances of expatriates dropped 7.3 percent reaching SR11.6 billion in July 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 when it stood at SR12.5 billion. On a monthly basis, the total personal transfers of expatriates recorded 12 percent decrease compared to June 2022 when it reached SR13.2 billion. The total remittances of Saudis abroad amounted to SR43.82 billion during the first seven months of this year. Transfers of Saudis abroad shot up 49 percent to SR6.15 billion in July 2022, compared to SR4.13 billion in July 2021. On a monthly basis, remittances of Saudis abroad decreased by 8.8 percent when it stood at SR6.74 billion in June 2022. With regard to foreign contractors, the foreign exchange sales to foreign contractors amounted to SR2.5 billion last July. As for foreign exchange sales to import goods from contractors, it is amounted to about SR3.28 billion. The report showed that the transfers of Saudis for travel abroad amounted to about SR52 million in July, while the transfers of non-Saudis for the purpose amounted to SR41 million. As for government agencies, their foreign exchange sales amounted to about SR551 million in July while the ministries and municipalities did not have any purchases for the second month in a row, whereas the purchases of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) amounted to about SR757 million. Foreign exchange sales of the banks in the Kingdom amounted to about SR29.84 billion in July while the sales to banks outside the Kingdom recorded a sharp decline, reaching SR85.01 billion after it was about SR170.75 billion in the previous month of June.
