* Majed Al-Khaldi from Riyadh
The volume of bank credit granted to the industrial and construction sectors by the end of the first quarter of this year rose to 275.9 billion riyals.
Bank credit to the industrial and construction sectors grew by 9.6 percent, and net lending were amounted to 24.09 billion riyals, compared with the end of the first quarter of last year, which amounted to about 251.86 billion riyals.
According to the analysis of the report unit in the newspaper "AlEqtisadiah" that was based on SAMA data, the share of industry and construction accounted for 19.13 per cent of total bank credit by the end of the first quarter of this year, representing about 18.08 percent at the end of the same period last year, where the share of the two sectors rose by 105 basis points.
On a quarterly basis, the credit record at the end of the first quarter of 2019 grew by 3.5 per cent, and net lending of 9.6 billion riyals, compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
The share of credit granted to the industrial sector were amounted to 172.7 billion riyals and about 103.25 billion riyals for the construction sector by the end of the first quarter of 2019, with the former growing by 9.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent for the construction and construction sector.
The construction sector saw a slight improvement in the volume of credit, as the volume of credit by the end of the first quarter is the highest since the third quarter of 2017, where the sector witnessed a decline in the volume of credit by the end of 2017 as well as in 2018, while the first quarter figures look good, with loans growing on a quarterly and annual basis.
Growth in 2018 was positive for the industrial and construction sectors with bank credit increasing by 6.7 percent, which amounted to about 266.35 billion riyals.
While the volume of credit during 2017 declined compared to 2016 and by 11 percent.
In contrast, the banks' liabilities to the total economic sectors grew during the first quarter of this year and 3.6 percent higher than in the corresponding period of last year, growing by about 49.58 billion riyals.
The ratio of non-performing loans to total loans at the end of last year was about 2 percent, compared to 1.6 percent at the end of 2017.
* Economic Reports Unit
