Vision 2030 promises a transformation of Saudi Arabia’s economy, and the financial sector will be crucial to achieving this. The sector will facilitate private investment focusing on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing, fund mega-projects, and be a driver for diversifying away from oil. As a result, banks’ role must go from being distributive and largely passive to developmental and active. This article1 will highlight how the role of the Saudi banking sector has been transformed in the last five years and how its composition is changing to cope. Commercial banks are becoming financial intermediaries between all facets of the Saudi economy, not only the state and large conglomerates. The new banking environment requires updated approaches and since Saudi companies — with a few notable exceptions — do not borrow abroad, the domestic banking system is a critical source of funding for Vision 2030.
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