Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
| Headquarters | Riyadh , Saudi Arabia |
| founding | 4th October 1952 |
| president | Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey (Governor of the bank since 2016) |
| country | Saudi Arabia |
| currency | |
| ISO 4217 | SAR |
| Currency reserves | US $ 496.834 billion (September 2019) |
| Website | |
| List of central banks | |
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority ( SAMA ; Arabic مؤسسة النقد العربي السعودي, DMG Muʾassasat an-naqd al-ʿarabiyya as-saʿūdiyya 'Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority') was founded in 1952 and is the central bank of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . It was formerly known as the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency .
history
Before the establishment of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, the Saudi Hollandi Bank , a branch of the Dutch trading company , acted as the de facto central bank from 1926. It kept the kingdom's gold reserves and received oil revenues on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government. In 1928 it helped establish a new Saudi silver coin on behalf of King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud , the kingdom's first independent currency. The Saudi Hollandia Bank transferred its responsibility to SAMA when it was founded in 1952 and became a model for other foreign banks in the kingdom. The modern agency works with a regulatory infrastructure developed by Irish consultancy Vizor .
function
SAMA is the central bank of Saudi Arabia. The tasks of the SAMA include issuing the national currency Saudi riyal , supervising commercial banks , managing foreign exchange reserves, promoting price and exchange rate stability and ensuring the growth and soundness of the financial system
construction
A board of directors oversees the operations of SAMA. These are the governor, the vice-governor and three other nominated members from the private sector. The term of office is 4 years for the governor and vice-governor, renewable by royal decree, and 5 years for the other members, also renewable by royal decree. Board members can only be removed by royal decree.
The SAMA management team consists of the governor, the vice-governor and five deputy governors.
SAMA Foreign Holdings
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority not only acts as the central bank of Saudi Arabia, but also controls SAMA Foreign Holdings , a sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The fund is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, with assets of over USD 490 billion in 2018.
Individual evidence
- ^ Saudi Arabia Foreign Exchange Reserves . ceic.com. Accessed November 24, 2019
- ↑ Historical preview. Retrieved November 24, 2019 .
- ↑ Technology consultant of the year: Vizor Software. January 23, 2018, accessed November 24, 2019 .
- ↑ James Chen: SAMA Foreign Holdings (Saudi Arabia). Retrieved November 24, 2019 .