Saudi Arabia taps more reserves to help fund spending

"... The central bank’s total assets fell 0.3 percent to 1.93 trillion riyals ($515 billion) in August from July, according to data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. It was the first monthly decline since February, when the assets fell 0.4 percent. The Riyadh-based bank didn’t respond to telephone calls and a fax seeking comment on the reason for the decrease.
“The only reasonable explanation is that they have drawn down their assets to help fund government spending as happened earlier during the financial crisis,” Jarmo Kotilaine, chief economist at Jeddah-based National Commercial Bank, said in a phone interview. “Lower oil prices don’t only explain the decline.”
Saudi Arabia, which depends on oil for 86 percent of its revenue, tapped reserves in 2009 to maintain spending as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression pushed oil prices as low as $34 a barrel. Then, the bank’s total assets dropped 8 percent to about 1.6 trillion riyals as the kingdom deployed a five-year $400 billion stimulus package...."