Liquidity in Saudi Arabian financial markets is improving owing to government initiatives such as the successful foray into international bond market, a report said.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabia Interbank Offered Rate (Saibor) has declined lately, as the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) reduced the size of weekly issuance of Treasury bills and also introduced 90-day repos, added the Economic Research released by Al Rajhi Capital, a leading provider of financial services in the kingdom.

The IMF cut the kingdom’s 2016 non-oil GDP forecast growth to 0.3 per cent, as against 1.6 per cent predicted in May 2016, as government spending cuts negatively impacted business confidence.

Opec raised the 2016 global oil demand forecast to 1.24 million barrels per day (mbpd), from 1.23 mbpd, due to higher demand in Asia.     

Brent crude December futures declined 3.8 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) in October owing to uncertainty regarding the deal among oil producers to cut crude oil production.

Bank claims on the private sector grew by seven per cent year-on-year (y-on-y) in September, as against a 7.5 per cent y-o-y rise in August. Meanwhile, deposits dropped at a faster pace in September (-4.3 per cent y-o-y versus -2.8 per cent in August), pushing the loan-to-deposit ratio beyond the 90 per cent mark for the fourth consecutive month.

On the equity front, Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) advanced 6.9 per cent m-o-m in October, as compared to a 7.5 per cent m-o-m drop in September. – TradeArabia News Service