BASED DEPOSITS, SAYING THAT THIS LED TO BANK CREDITS GRANTED TO THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS INSIDE THE KINGDOM OUTNUMBERING THE SIZE OF BANK DEPOSITS FORCING THE BANKING SECTOR TO DEPLETE ITS CAPITAL AND RESERVES AND RESORT TO BORROW FROM OUTSIDE TO FINANCE DOMESTIC ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES. HE SAID THE NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL BANKS AND BRANCHES INCREASED TO REACH 16 COMMERCIAL BANKS BY THE EIGHTH MONTH OF 2006. BRANCHES REACHED 1283 , HE SAID, ADDING THAT THE NUMBER OF LICENSED BANKS NOW IS 22, OUT OF WHICH 12 ARE SAUDI BANKS AND TEN FOREIGN WHILE ONE LOCAL BANK, ALNAMA'A (DEVELOPMENT) HAS NOT YET OPERATED. BOTH EXPORTS AND IMPORTS WHICH REFLECT THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY HIKED, ALSAYYARI SAID, ADDING THAT IMPORTS TOLLED TO SR 113 BILLION BY END OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2006 FROM SR28 BILLION BY THE END OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2001. HE SAID SAUDI ARABIA'S NON-OIL EXPORTS FETCHED SR36 BILLION BY THE FIRST HALF OF 2006. HE SAID SAUDI GOODS EXPORTS REGISTERED AN INCREASE OF 43 % IN 2005 AMOUNTING TO SR677 BILLION. SAUDI OIL EXPORTS INCLUDING VESSELS FUEL EARNED SR605.9 BILLION IN 2005, AN INCREASE OF 45% COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS YEAR, HE SAID, ADDING THAT THE KINGDOM'S BALANCE OF PAYMENTS MADE A CONSIDERABLE IMPROVEMENT IN 2005 AS THE CURRENT ACCOUNT HAS SCORED A SURPLUS OF SR337 BILLION COMPARED WITH A SURPLUS WORTH SR194 BILLION IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, AN INCREASE OF 73 PERCENT. IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION, ALSAYYARI SAID AL-INMA'A BANK IS EXPECTED TO OPERATE NEXT YEAR.
