RIYADH — The consumer spending in the Kingdom witnessed an increase by 10% as Saudi Arabia's population spent about SR88.5 billion during last February, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced. SAMA's data clarified that consumer spending in Saudi Arabia rose during the month of February 2022 to SR88.5 billion, compared to about SR80.23 billion during the same month in the previous year. The value of sales through sales' points increased by 25% to about SR38.88 billion through 496.3 million transactions and via 1.09 million devices, compared to 2021 when it reached SR31.05 at the same time. According to SAMA's data, the cash withdrawal process from ATMs decreased by 7% reaching about SR41.7 billion in February, and was done through 16,500 ATMs and via 113.8 million transactions. This showed a decrease when compared to cash withdrawals during the previous year, which amounted to SR45.01 billion. The e-commerce sales through Mada cards recorded an increase of about SR8.02 billion during February, with a rate of 92% through 38.9 million transactions. E-commerce sales do not include the operations that have been made through Visa, MasterCard and other credit cards. It only includes Mada card operations that are used for payments and purchases through shopping sites and apps.
