Economic reports forecast further growth in Saudi bank profitability in the first half of this year, which would add to mounting profits made by local banks during the past period. Riyad Bank, one of the biggest local banks, unveiled its fiscal results with huge growth in profits (more than 16 percent). Riyad Bank achieved net profit of SAR2.19 billion (USD584 million) during the first half of 2018. Other banks are expected to announce their fiscal results in the coming days. In this regard, the Saudi stock market index concluded Wednesday’s trading with a slight drop of 0.1 percent, closing at 8,452 points. Around 11 Saudi firms have so far announced their fiscal results for the second quarter of this year. Overall results show a growth of 3.5 percent in profits during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year. These developments coincide with Saudi Arabia’s launching of the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) 2020 that aims at meeting the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. The program will work through its first pillar on empowering financial institutions to support the growth of the private sector. It seeks through the second pillar to develop an advanced financial market. The third pillar, which is based on “reinforcing and empowering financial planning”, focuses on supply and demand.