Saudi Arabia

Recent and ongoing reforms of Saudi Arabia’s capital markets have seen the Kingdom gradually liberalise its investment framework and overhaul the operations of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) – the largest exchange in the GCC by market capitalisation. Looking to initial public offerings, the state’s privatisation programme – a central component of Saudi Vision 2030 – is likely to generate...

The Kingdom’s banking sector started 2020 on a promising note, with 13 local banks serving a population of over 30m people. However, low oil prices and the disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to undermine asset growth over the course of the year, though the Kingdom’s banks have previously demonstrated the ability to remain profitable despite difficulties. Looking to the...

The revenue raised from outgoing shipments of oil fund the government’s social and infrastructural programmes, and are therefore central to the Kingdom’s economy. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 has slowed economic activity and reduced investor sentiment around the world, thus its effect on the Kingdom’s trading activity and inward investment is yet to be seen....

Four years after the launch of Saudi Arabia’s comprehensive development strategy, Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s non-oil economy is starting to see the benefits of sustained reform. Any decrease in revenue caused by lower oil prices is a significant challenge and presents a downside risk for the economy. Actions taken by the government to mitigate the effects of both the depressed oil price...

Home to an estimated 15% of the world’s proven oil reserves and as the largest economy in MENA, Saudi Arabia is a key player not only in the region, but on a global scale. Over the last few years, Saudi Arabia has attracted international attention for the momentum of its socio-economic transformation taking place under the auspices of the Vision 2030 development blueprint. In November 2020...