SNB has 'healthy' loans-to-deposits ratio, may issue more bonds: Chairman

Saudi National Bank's (SNB) liquidity level is sufficient, while it has a healthy loans-to-deposits ratio, said Chairman Ammar Al-Khudairy.

He told Al-Arabiya TV that such ratio stands at about 80%, noting that it is considered the highest within the Saudi banking sector.

As for whether the bank may need to issue bonds, the top official said, “We issued bonds five months ago, and we may need to issue more bonds because that has nothing to do with liquidity, but rather with capital. When there is steady growth in lending, the bank may find an opportunity to issue bonds to increase the volume of its loans pool.”

Al-Khudairy also said that demand for loans is affected by raising interest on lending, but the most important thing is advancing economically. "As long as there is rapid pace of economic growth, there will be growth in loans," he added.

The chairman expected a continued strong pace of economic growth in the Kingdom.

He also pointed out that the percentage of doubtful debts declined from last year. This was because of the outstanding economic growth and the government's payment of its dues at a rapid pace, which resulted in companies making their credit payments on time.

Last September, SNB completed the issuance of an additional Tier-I SAR-denominated sukuk, at a value of SAR 3.3 billion, according to Argaam's data.