RIYADH: Three of Saudi Arabia’s top 10 banks have posted strong profit growth in the first nine months of 2022, as interest rates and crude prices rise. Saudi National Bank, the Kingdom’s largest lender, posted a 42 percent surge in profit to SR14 billion ($3.8 billion) for the first nine months of 2022. The Kingdom’s most valuable, Rajhi Bank, has reported a 19 percent profit surge to SR13 billion ($3 billion) in the first nine months of 2022. Riyad Bank has seen its profit soar by 13 percent to SR5 billion in the first nine months of 2022. The profit hike was buoyed by higher operating income, due to an increase in earnings from net special commissions, fees and commissions, and exchanges Commenting on the results, Fawaz Al-Fawaz, a Saudi-based independent economist and columnist told Arab News that Saudi banks are likely to maintain their profitability “The banking sector profitability was expected to improve, due to higher interest margins, which is the difference between what banks pay on the deposits, and the rate they charge on the loans,” he said “The rising rate environment normally allows banks to increase rates on loans, while they are slower to adjust rates they pay on deposits. Profits should continue to increase but at a slower rate. Increasing rates may deter some borrowing, as we saw in housing for the last few months.”