RIYADH: Credit facilities given to micro, small, and medium enterprises in Saudi Arabia hit SR229.3 billion ($61.4 billion) in 2022, up 13 percent on the previous 12 months, official figures showed. Data released by Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, revealed that banks accounted for credit facilities worth SR213.2 billion, or 93 percent of the total financing. The remaining 7 percent – SR16.1 billion – was provided by financial institutions. According to the report, SR7.54 billion of credit facilities were given to small enterprises, while medium enterprises received SR5.34 billion. The SAMA report pointed out that medium enterprises accounted for 62 percent, or SR132.97 billion, of the total credit facilities in 2022, while medium enterprises represented around SR5.34 billion during the same period. The growth of MSMEs is crucial for Saudi Arabia to materialize the goals outlined in Vision 2030, as the Kingdom is now on a path of economic diversification. In March, a top official of Saudi Arabia’s Social Development Bank revealed that it is aiming to provide SR24 billion of finance for small and medium-sized enterprises in the next three years. During an interview with Arab News, Sultan Al-Hamidi, chief business officer of SDB, said the bank has provided finance worth SR16 billion to 40,000 SMEs in Saudi Arabia since 2008. He also added SDB handed over $5 billion of financing to some 9,000 SMEs in 2022 alone. “In 2008, we started the segment of SMEs and micro SMEs. From that date until today, we successfully deployed around SR16 billion to 40,000 SMEs. And how do we help them? We start with them from idea until expansion,” said Al-Hamidi. He added: “We see big growth in SMEs, and the bank reacted to that in all aspects. So, if we take the example for last year, we grew and we were able to finance 9,000 SMEs with an amount of around SR5 billion. And of course, we have a plan in the coming three years, we will deploy around SR24 billion in the coming three years.”