The chief economist at Riyad Bank, Nayef Al-Ghaith, said that the exposure of Saudi banks to foreign assets does not exceed 8% of their total assets.
Al-Ghaith added, in an interview with Al-Arabiya, that the volume of foreign assets of Saudi banks amounts to 284 billion riyals, which includes foreign bonds and various assets.
He stated that the volume of investments of Saudi banks amounts to 15%, the majority of which are concentrated on local bonds at about 13%.
He explained that Silicon Valley Bank reached this situation because it did not have good governance, in addition to the lack of minutes committees.
There are concerns that financial firms could see an impact from their investments in bonds and other instruments on the SVB-induced anxiety. Treasury yields fell on Monday amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will delay raising interest rates due to turmoil in the banking system, according to Bloomberg, which was seen by Al Arabiya.net.
Financial stocks globally lost $465 billion from their market value in two days, as investors cut exposure to banks from New York to Japan in the wake of the Silicon Valley collapse.
Losses widened on Tuesday, as the MSCI Asia-Pacific financial index fell 2.7% to its lowest level since November 29. The “Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group” fell by 8.3% in Japan, while the South Korean “Hana Financial Group” fell 4.7%.
