The Middle East

In June 2015, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange entered a new era by opening to foreign participation, an event that has one of the most keenly anticipated financial events in the region. Yet this is only the latest step in a longer process of market reform that has seen the exchange evolve from a single-product market to an increasingly diverse investment platform. With a raft of regulatory...

Having posted another year of positive results, Saudi Arabia’s banking sector is positioning itself to take advantage of the government’s expansionist fiscal policy and the large number of projects this has created. In the meantime, opportunities in other areas of the lending landscape are being explored, most notably among the nation’s smaller businesses. An ongoing process of regulatory...

With its sound government finances and trade-friendly policies, Saudi Arabia presents an attractive option for investors. The Kingdom currently benefits from high levels of macroeconomic stability, combined with low debt and a budget that until 2015 had been consistently in comfortable surplus. In June 2015 the country’s stock exchange, Tadawul, was opened to qualified foreign investors for...

While hydrocarbons continue to form the bulk of Saudi Arabia’s revenues, the government has placed an increasing emphasis on economic diversification in recent times. Indeed the Kingdom’s economic growth is now being driven primarily by the non-oil sector, which expanded at a rate of 5% in the decade to 2014. Although low oil prices and the government’s commitment to maintaining spending...

2015 has been a momentous year for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The accession of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in April, which saw a reordering of the country’s line of succession and brought a reshuffle of the main cabinet positions, indicates a leadership with its sights firmly set on the future. In 2014 the Kingdom had a population of 30.77m, up 2.59% on the previous year. Hydrocarbons...