Saudi Arabia

Alongside significant political efforts to speed up the energy transition, 2021 was a record-breaking year for green finance, as governments, international institutions and lenders alike sought to support the shift towards renewables. This mirrored developments in generation: new renewable energy capacity reached an all-time high of 290 GW in 2021. Meanwhile, the issuance of...

The Gulf banking sector has witnessed an increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in recent years, as lenders continue to deal with the economic headwinds associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. At the outset of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, it was anticipated that the economic slowdown and the associated fall in oil prices would accelerate the M&A trend...

A robust recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and a positive economic outlook should help the Saudi banking sector overcome a relative lack of liquidity as consumer lending growth outpaces deposits.

After a resilient performance in 2020, the international Islamic finance sector fared positively in 2021 as an improved economic environment and a rise in the number of large projects combined to drive demand for services. Despite the twin challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fall in international oil prices that affected many of the world’s heavyweights in Islamic...

Saudi Arabia’s banking sector is dynamic and competitive, comprised of domestic universal banks, foreign specialists and finance companies vying for market share. It is also a sector in the midst of significant and regulation-driven change, as the Kingdom’s leadership works to implement its long-term economic blueprint, outlined in detail in its Vision 2030 programme. Indeed,...