Saudi Exim Bank’s credit doubling aids non-oil growth

The Saudi Export-Import Bank (SEIB) doubled its credit facilities last year, helping to develop non-oil exports of the world’s second largest oil producer, the local Arab News reported.

Credit facilities jumped 103 percent to SAR33.5 billion ($8.9 billion) compared with the year before, with export financing rising 70 percent to around SAR12 billion, the newspaper said. 

Credit insurance for exports saw an even bigger rise, up almost 130 percent year on year to SAR22 billion.

The performance is in line with the bank’s target of doubling Saudi industrial exports from SAR254 billion in 2022 to SAR557 billion by 2030, and further to SAR892 billion by 2035, the newspaper said.

SEIB is a government-owned financial institution established in 2020 to promote Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports to global markets.

The bank secured a $300 million credit facility agreement with commodity trading company Glencore.

Non-oil exports, including re-exports, rose by 14.3 percent year on year in February, according to the latest monthly report from the Saudi General Authority for Statistics.

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Oil exports accounted for 72 percent of total exports in February, down from 76 percent in February 2024.

The data comes as senior International Monetary Fund officials this week praised efforts by Saudi Arabia and other members of the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council for their efforts to expand sources of economic growth and fiscal revenue beyond oil.

However, as with many countries around the world, the IMF also revised Saudi Arabia’s economic growth prospects downward in its latest World Economic Outlook, forecasting 3 percent expansion this year versus the 3.3 percent it projected in January, on the back of a decline in international oil prices.