RIYADH: Net foreign assets at Saudi Arabia’s central bank dropped 2.4 percent from the previous month to 2.23 trillion riyals ($594.6 billion) in January, central bank data showed on Sunday.
Assets fell 18.2 percent from a year earlier to their lowest level since late 2012. They reached a record high of $737 billion in August 2014 before starting to shrink. The central bank, which acts as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has been drawing down its assets to cover a huge state budget deficit caused by low oil prices.
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The bulk of foreign assets are believed to be denominated in U.S. dollars. They are mainly securities such as U.S. Treasury bonds and deposits with banks abroad; equities are believed to account for only a small fraction, perhaps under 20 percent. Some assets are managed through major global fund firms.
The central bank’s holdings of foreign securities shrank 0.9 percent from the previous month to $397.8 billion in January, while foreign bank deposits tumbled 7.3 percent to $136.5 billion.
