Matthew’s view
Saudi Arabia’s liquidity challenges are increasingly presenting lucrative opportunities for foreign investors. Everyone from the government, the sovereign wealth fund, Aramco, and local lenders are tapping foreign investors to raise money.
The total value of outstanding Saudi debt is set to cross $600 billion by the end of the year, with the kingdom set to remain one of the largest US dollar debt issuers in emerging markets, according to Fitch Ratings. It’s already been a busy January, with an average of $1 billion a day raised from a variety of issuers.
To help soak up all this issuance, the kingdom is working to boost visibility and access among global debt investors.
And it’s not just debt. The kingdom is making a renewed push to attract foreign equity investors too, and removed restrictions on who can buy shares on Feb 1. That is intended to help the market digest a growing IPO pipeline. Foreign direct investment has also been picking up momentum.
“The kingdom has gone through the flat part of the S curve, we have planned and we have reformed,” Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said last week in response to questions from Semafor. “Now we are climbing the vertical part of the S curve.”
With the government budget in deficit, Public Investment Fund facing vast spending commitments, and domestic banks struggling to keep up with demands for loans, the kingdom will have to step up its efforts even more this year to attract more dollars into the economy.
Notable
- Riyadh has recently been pulling back spending from a number of gigaprojects, including NEOM’s The Line, cubic skyscraper Mukaab, and the 2029 Asian Winter Games as it reconsiders its budget.