Kingdoms foreign assets surge

Saudi Arabias foreign assets increased by more than SR100 billion in the first four months of 2011, data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said.

The surge in foreign assets in 2010 was a result of higher than expected oil prices, which turned the countrys budgeted deficit into a surplus of nearly SR109 billion compared with a deficit of SR87 billion in 2009 and a record high surplus of SR581 billion in 2008, when oil prices peaked at an average of $95 a barrel.

From around SR1,705 billion ($455 billion) at the end of 2010, the total foreign assets controlled by SAMA leaped by SR101.7 billion to SR1,806.7 billion ($482 billion) at the end of April, the figures showed.