RIYADH — There has been an increase of 224.6 percent in the spending of travelers coming to Saudi Arabia, reaching $9.8 billion during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022. This information was contained in the balance of payments data released by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). According to the data, the spending of those who traveled outside the Kingdom during the first quarter of this year amounted to about $3.7 billion, an increase of 7.9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2022. The spending of Saudis who traveled abroad shot up 310 percent to $7.16 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the same quarter of 2021. The SAMA data showed that the Central Bank's assets increased to SR1.872 trillion during last May, a monthly increase of SR49.5 billion or 2.7 percent from the previous month of April. The monthly report of SAMA indicated that its assets rose by SR7.5 billion last May, compared to SR1.864 trillion in the same month of 2022.
