Bank Credit Grows by 391 Billion Riyals During 2025

The development of the financial sector is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which includes updating regulatory systems, enhancing governance efficiency, and increasing transparency. These measures have boosted the confidence of banks and investors and expanded the banks' capacity to provide credit in a safe and sustainable manner.

In this context, bank credit granted to the public and private sectors in the Kingdom continued its rapid growth trajectory, reaching its highest levels by the end of October 2025, totaling approximately 3.3 trillion riyals. This represents an annual growth rate of 13.6%, with an increase exceeding 391.6 billion riyals compared to the same period in 2024, when it recorded about 2.9 trillion riyals.

The monthly statistical bulletin issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for October 2025 indicated that bank credit also rose on a monthly basis by 0.4%, equivalent to an increase of 12.9 billion riyals compared to September, when total bank credit amounted to about 3.2 trillion riyals.

The bulletin showed that bank credit granted to the public and private sectors was distributed across various economic activities, supporting comprehensive and sustainable economic growth and aligning with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to develop the financing environment and support expansion in vital sectors.

Data revealed that long-term bank credit (more than 3 years) accounted for the largest share of total credit at 49%, valued at 1.6 trillion riyals. Short-term credit (less than one year) represented 37.3%, with a value close to 1.2 trillion riyals, while medium-term credit (from one to three years) accounted for 13.8% of the total, valued at 451.1 billion riyals.

Furthermore, the Financial Sector Development Program encourages diversifying income sources, increasing savings culture, expanding financing methods, and investment projects. It plays a fundamental and important role in transforming the Saudi financial sector into a powerhouse for growth and economic diversification by establishing a vibrant and effective financial sector.

Saudi Arabia is also building a strong economy with great ambition for the future by empowering financial sector institutions, developing an advanced financial market, promoting savings, and supporting fintech startups.

The Financial Sector Development Program was launched in 2018 as a strategic step aimed at enhancing the strength and efficiency of Saudi financial institutions, developing the local financial market, and transforming it into a global financial market. The program covers several sub-sectors including banking, insurance, and equity and debt markets.

The program is managed in partnership with the main legislative and regulatory bodies in the financial sector: the Saudi Central Bank, the Capital Market Authority, and the Insurance Authority. These entities work together to ensure financial stability and promote sustainable growth across all related sectors. Through this partnership, the program focuses on investing in modern financial technologies to improve banking customer experience, facilitate access to high-quality financial products and services, and develop financial regulations and systems to make them more efficient and effective.

The program aims to establish Saudi Arabia’s position as a global financial hub by enhancing the competitiveness of the financial sector according to the highest international standards, benefiting all stakeholders including individuals and institutions.

Among the program’s most notable achievements are the launch of the fintech strategy as a key pillar for sector development, licensing three local digital banks that embody the Kingdom’s move towards financial digitization, and establishing the Financial Academy dedicated to qualifying and empowering national cadres to lead the future of the financial sector.

These initiatives have contributed to raising the ranking of the Saudi financial market to become among the top ten financial markets globally, in addition to joining prestigious global indices. The program is steadily advancing towards building a more advanced and innovative financial ecosystem that supports entrepreneurship, enhances private sector participation, and consolidates Saudi Arabia’s position as a global fintech hub. This transformation directly contributes to achieving the targets of Saudi Vision 2030 to build a diversified and sustainable economy.