* Talal Al-Sayah from Riyadh
The total outstanding loans of government specialized lending institutions in Saudi Arabia by the end of the fourth quarter of 2018 were amounted to about 230,735 billion riyals, compared to SR 230.386 billion at the end of the third quarter (previous quarter), which is registering a growth of 0.2 percent, equivalent to 349.2 million riyals.
According to the Monitoring Unit of the reports in the newspaper "AlEqtisadiah" that based on SAMA data, the value of loans to specialized lending institutions recorded their first rise in two years after falling for seven consecutive quarters, specifically from the first quarter 2017.
According to recent data, government specialized lending institutions are divided into four quarters, which is the Agricultural Development Fund, Saudi Industrial Development Fund, Real Estate Development Fund and the Social Development Bank.
Regarding the existing loans for each fund or bank, Saudi Industrial Development Fund topped the previous funds in terms of growth as it is the only one whose loans grew by 5.9 percent to SR 2.398 billion.
Industrial Development Fund loans reached SR 42.941 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to SR 40.542 billion at the end of the third quarter 2018.
Industrial Fund loans grew for the second quarter in a row as it increased by 6.4 percent, equivalent to 2.434 billion riyals, during the third quarter of 2018.
On the other hand, the number of loans outstanding by percentage from "Social Development Bank" was 4.3%, lower at SR 1.199 billion, to reach the value of loans by the end of the fourth quarter of 2018 about 26.932 billion riyals, compared to SR 28.131 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2018.
It is followed by the Real Estate Development Fund, whose existing loans recorded a decline of 0.5 per cent to reach SR 818 million during the fourth quarter of 2018, where the value of loans reached 153.517 billion riyals, compared to 154.335 billion riyals by the end of the third quarter 2018.
The latest funds and specialized lending institutions are the Agricultural Development Fund, which recorded a decline of 0.4 percent during the fourth quarter of 2018, equivalent to 32 million riyals, to the value of its existing loans to 7.346 billion riyals, compared to 7.378 billion riyals at the end of the third quarter 2018.
On another level, the Real Estate Development Fund has the largest share of total outstanding loans to state-run specialized lending institutions at 66.5 per cent, compared to 67 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2018.
It is followed by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund by 18.6 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to 17.6 percent at the end of the third quarter 2018.
The Social Development Bank rose by 11.7 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to 12.2 percent at the end of the third quarter 2018.
The most recent of which was the Agricultural Development Fund that has 3.2 per cent by the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, unchanged from the previous quarter (Q3 2018).
* Economic Reports Unit
