The Saudi Central Bank (Sama) has announced the launch of the first version of its Open Data Platform, which contains economic, financial and monetary statistics and indicators for Saudi Arabia.

The step comes as part of Sama's commitment to providing accurate and up-to-date information and data for specialists and stakeholders; via upholding highest levels of transparency and benefiting from international best practices, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The Open Data Platform offers a number of features, including displaying data, indicators and charts directly on the platform as well as browsing detailed data in a tree data structure and enabling users to select a set of data and indicators from various sectors onto one page.

Additionally, the Open Data Platform allows downloading the available information in various formats, such as Excel and CSV, as well as specifying the time period and periodicity of the data and indicators to be viewed or downloaded. Moreover, the platform provides time series for data and indicators, in addition to the quick search feature.

Sama clarified that it will develop and improve the services and features of the Open Data Platform. A Programming Interface Application will be added to the platform. Users will also be able to request data. Furthermore, downloading data in XML format will be supported.