RIYADH: A rise in oil exports helped increase Saudi Arabia’s current account deposits touch $26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a Saudi Central Bank report. 

The rise in the current account balance was attributed to a strengthening surplus in the goods balance, which reached $48.9 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $37.9 billion in the previous quarter. 

Oil exports surged by 16.5 percent, quarter-on-quarter, to stand at $64 billion while non-oil exports rose by 18 percent to $21.5 billion.

Additionally, the Kingdom’s net flow of foreign direct investment reached $1.92 billion in the fourth quarter, easing significantly from the second quarter’s figure of $13.8 billion. Yet, it went up compared to the third quarter, which witnessed a net inflow of $1.75 billion. 

The massive second quarter figure of net FDI was primarily attributed to a $12.4 billion infrastructure deal between Aramco and a global investor consortium, in which the consortium acquired a 49 percent stake in Aramco Oil Pipelines Company, according to Aramco press release issued 18 June 2021. 

Equity and investment fund shares reached $21 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, up 61 percent when compared to the previous quarter.