* Ikrami Abdullah from Riyadh
Saudi overseas assets rose to 1.862 trillion riyals at the end of last year, compared to 1.861 trillion riyals by the end of 2017, registering a growth of 0.03 percent, equivalent to about 621 million riyals during the year.
According to the analysis of the report unit in the newspaper "AlEqtisadiah" that based on the data of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Saudi Arabia's overseas reserve assets declined on a monthly basis, where it was 1.891 trillion riyals by the end of November, a decrease of 1.5%.
The total SAMA reserve assets include gold, SDR, IMF reserve, foreign exchange, deposits abroad, in addition to investments in securities abroad.
On a monthly basis, "investments in securities abroad" declined by 0.02 percent (SR 277 million) to reach 1.198 trillion riyals by the end of December.
Investment in securities abroad accounted for 64.3 per cent of Saudi foreign reserve assets.
Total foreign exchange and deposits abroad fell to 625.8 billion riyals by the end of December, compared to 654.8 billion riyals in the previous month, a drop of 4.4 percent, equivalent to about 29 billion riyals.
The reserve stood at 6.2 billion riyals at the end of last month, compared to 6.6 billion riyals a month earlier, 6.6 percent, or 438 million riyals.
Special Drawing Rights (SDR) rose to 30.33 billion riyals at the end of last month, compared to 29.82 billion riyals in the previous month, by 1.7 percent, equivalent to 513 million riyals.
Saudi Arabia's reserves stood at SAR1.62 billion, at the same level it has maintained since February 2008.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said that the returns on investments of Saudi Arabia's overseas reserves managed by the institution are similar to those of global central banks.
Saudi Arabia had cut its investment in US Treasury bills and bonds to 171.3 billion dollars (642.4 billion SR) by the end of October, compared to $ 176.1 billion at the end of September, down 2.7 percent to $ 4.8 billion in a month.
While Saudi Arabia's stock of US Treasuries rose by an annualized 18% at the end of October by $ 26.1 billion, compared to its $ 201.3 billion at the end of October 2017.
Saudi Arabia was ranked tenth among major investors in US Treasuries by the end of October, after China, Japan, Brazil, Ireland, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, and Hong Kong.
It includes only the Saudi investments in treasury bonds, while other investments in securities, assets and cash in US dollars are not included.
* Economic Reports Unit
