property-follow-ups
\n The IMF forecasts that the Saudi economy will grow by 4.4% this year, describing this as a \u00abreasonable and achievable rate,\u00bb noting that key interest rates are reasonable and balanced and that it is unlikely that the Federal Reserve\u2019s (the U.S. central bank) on the Kingdom\u2019s monetary policy direction, adding that the Kingdom\u2019s interest rate is reasonable, balanced, and achieves its objective.
\n Fahad Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), on the sidelines of a recent press conference held at the institution\u2019s headquarters in Riyadh to mark the release of SAMA\u2019s 49th annual report, during which he addressed a number of topics, most notably real estate financing and various types of loans.<\/p>\n
Private Sector Growth
\nThe governor of \u201dSAMA\u201d said that the Fund\u2019s inflation forecast for the Kingdom is 3%, noting that the Kingdom\u2019s real gross domestic product grew by 3.8% in 2013, a rate higher than the global economic growth rate for the same year, which stood at 2.9%, and the private sector grew by 5.5%. He explained that the growth achieved by the Kingdom\u2019s economy is based on continued government investment spending, particularly on infrastructure projects, and the continued rapid growth of the private sector as a result of achievements in modernizing and developing regulations and improving the business environment, which bolstered domestic and foreign investment, in addition to the support provided by local banks.
\n Bank Interest Rate Regulations
\nRegarding the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority\u2019s (SAMA) study of the lending interest rate in the Kingdom relative to its current level, SAMA Governor Dr. Fahad Al-Mubarak explained that there are regulations governing interest rates within the Kingdom\u2019s banking system\u2014regulations that are transparent to every bank and that each bank is required to to do so with every customer. He said that, given the differences in practices among banks, the Authority has recently established the latest standards and new regulations, which will be implemented in the very near future\u2014within a matter of months\u2014to ensure transparency and discipline. Customer protection regulations have also been issued; there are specific regulations and standards that the banking system must apply to ensure the necessary transparency in any loan, and he expects these to have an impact on practices and foster a correct understanding among all parties.
\n Real estate finance
\nRegarding real estate financing in the Kingdom through banks and independent companies, Dr. Fahad Al-Mubarak stated that this activity has a long history in the Kingdom and that modern regulations have been introduced to keep pace with it and promote its development in a way that benefits all parties involved. Executive regulations for these systems have been issued, andauthorized to operate under them. He anticipated that the implementation of mortgage and financial leasing systems would begin in accordance with the announced regulations, particularly following the issuance of approvals for a number of companies to engage in this activity, which will provide greater security, transparency, and protection for all parties involved in this sector in the coming.
\nHe praised the Kingdom\u2019s sovereign rating of AA \u2014up from AA with a stable outlook\u2014recently awarded by Fitch Ratings, emphasizing that the Kingdom is among the few global economies to have received a rating upgrade.
\n Expected Effects
\nAl-Mubarak denied that there had been any impact on financial dealings with Qatar following recent events, noting that the Kingdom\u2019s investments totaled 2,700 billion riyals, of which 194 billion was in currency, with the remainder consisting of cash and bank deposits.<\/p>\n
He noted that local banks were only minimally affected by the global financial crisis and that the institution\u2019s portfolio was among those least affected by the crisis, thanks to prudent investment policies. He added that the Kingdom was among the first countries to implement the Basel III principles and that all banks adhere to these regulations.
\nBudget Surplus
\nDuring his speech at the conference, Al-Mubarak explained that in 2013, the Kingdom achieved an actual surplus in the state budget estimated at approximately 18.3 billion riyals, representing 6.5% of GDP, noting that the level of public debt had declined to 75.1 billion riyals, representing approximately 2.7% of GDP,He added that the Kingdom achieved a current account surplus in the balance of payments estimated at approximately 486.8 billion riyals, representing 17.4% of GDP, compared to 22.4 % last year,He noted that the inflation rate rose from 2.9% in 2012 to 3.5 in 2013, stating that the increase is under control, and said \u00abAccording to the latest data released by the General Authority for Statistics and Information, the annual rate declined to 2.8% in February 2014.\u201d.
\nFinance Leasing
\nRegarding the financing sector, Al-Mubarak revealed that SAMA issued the regulatory regulations for the financial leasing system in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, in addition to issuing the regulatory regulations for the system governing the supervision of finance companies. He explained that the regulations set a maximum limit for mortgage financing not to exceed 70% of the value of the residential property covered by the mortgage contract, noting that the regulations established a regulatory framework for real estate refinancing, thereby laying the groundwork for a secondary market that contributes to providing the necessary liquidity and reduces the cost of financing for consumers, He explained that the Public Investment Fund has contributed to the ownership of the Saudi Refinancing Company with a capital of 5 billion riyals.
\nCustomer Protection
\nRegarding the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority\u2019s efforts to protect customers by establishing a dedicated department for this purpose\u2014out of its commitment to safeguarding the rights of customers in the sectors it oversees, addressing their complaints, and improving the quality of services in those sectors\u2014he emphasized the Authority\u2019s commitment to receiving all complaints, to which it pays close attention in its efforts to protect customers\u2019 rights and enhance the quality of services provided to them.
\nAl-Mubarak concluded by saying, \u00abThe results for the start of the year are lower than that, but for the year as a whole, the Fund\u2019s projections are reasonable: inflation rates in the Kingdom will be lower than those in other emerging economies. and we believe the private sector will be the main driver of growth this year. Government investments will remain the main driver of private sector growth, and that is why I am optimistic.\u00bb.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> Minutes<\/span><\/span>Amlak - Follow-ups The IMF's forecast for Saudi Arabia's economy to grow 4.4% this year is \u00aba reasonable and achievable rate,\u00bb noting that key interest rates are reasonable and balanced and that the reduction in the Federal Reserve's (US central bank) purchases of bonds is unlikely to affect the direction of monetary policy, adding that the Kingdom's interest rate is reasonable, balanced and achieves the target. He explained that ... Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legislation-and-regulations"],"acf":{"amlak_post_excerpt":"","amlak_post_excerpt_source":{"label":"Amlak post excerpt","type":"text","formatted_value":""}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","trp-custom-language-flag":"","event-thumbnail":"","event-medium":"","event-large":"","event-hero":""},"author_info":{"info":["\u0627\u0645\u0644\u0627\u0643 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0642\u0627\u0631\u064a\u0629"]},"category_info":"\u0627\u0644\u062a\u0634\u0631\u064a\u0639\u0627\u062a \u0648\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0646\u0638\u0645\u0629<\/a>","tag_info":"\u0627\u0644\u062a\u0634\u0631\u064a\u0639\u0627\u062a \u0648\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0646\u0638\u0645\u0629","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}