Weekly Market Brief – 12/2/2022

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• Saudi Arabia’s foreign reserve assets decreased by SAR15.8 billion ($4.2 billion) MoM, reaching SAR1.7 trillion ($450 billion) during the month of October 2022, according to the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). However, there has been an increase of SAR50 billion ($13.3 billion), or 3 percent YoY, in October.

• Saudi Arabia’s Purchasing Managers’ Index hit 58.5 points in November as the Kingdom’s non-oil private sector continues to expand amid rising inflationary pressures, the strongest level since September 2021. New order inflows increased at a sharp pace in November, reaching a 14-month high of 66 points on the New Orders sub-index.

• The aggregate net profit of Saudi Arabia’s top 10 banks increased by 9.3 percent QoQ to SAR16.5 billion ($4.4 billion) in the third quarter of 2022, as rising interest income boosted their performance.