RIYADH/MOSCOW: Annual growth in total credit provided to small and medium enterprises by Saudi banks slowed in the third quarter of 2021 to 12.9 percent from 25.3 percent in the previous quarter, the Saudi Central Bank report issued on Sunday showed.
Loans given to SMEs reached SR186.2 billion ($49.6 billion) in the third quarter of 2021 compared to SR165 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
A descending trend in quarterly growth rates has also been observed as the value of SME lending increased by just 0.8 percent in the third quarter of 2021, the lowest quarterly rate of growth recorded since the fourth quarter of 2019.
In addition, lending to SMEs from finance companies totaled SR14.2 billion in the third quarter of 2021 compared to SR13.5 billion in the previous quarter. It was also higher than last year’s SR10.8 billion in the same period.