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Andrew Hammond

Senior editor

Andrew Hammond began as a trainee journalist at BBC World Service Arabic radio before working with Reuters in Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia. He was also a political analyst with the European Council on Foreign Relations and HSBC Middle East, and has published books including Popular Culture in North Africa and the Middle East

Andrew Hammond
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced plans for Vision 2040

Saudi Arabia to begin preparing Vision 2040

Saudi Arabia is to begin working on the next phase of its economic diversification plan known as Vision 2030 and hopes to unveil its Vision 2040 as early as 2027, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview this week.  “Today we’re trying to close a few things, we’re aiming to close in the […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's number one priority is funding the kingdom's Vision 2030 giga-projects

Saudi economy slips as government pushes oil cuts

Analysts see the Saudi economy contracting in 2023 as a result of voluntary oil production cuts.  Higher prices, however, will still ensure that state coffers are full enough to meet the kingdom’s number one priority – funding its mammoth Vision 2030 diversification projects.  The International Monetary Fund said this month it saw a slowdown in […]

Employment growth in Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector eased further after hitting a nine-year record in October

Saudi crowdfunding takes off as loans double in 2022

The number of new businesses taking on debt through crowdfunding platforms has soared in Saudi Arabia. The value of loans raised has more than doubled to SAR771 million Saudi riyals ($206 million) in 2022, the Saudi central bank (Sama) said in a new report.  Crowdfunding is a process in which multiple investors lend money to […]

PIF intends to divest stakes in its portfolio companies to bolster the economic transformation under Vision 2030

Saudi Tadawul to launch four Size Indices

The Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul) is launching four new indices based on company size and public listing performance. The four Size Indices are the Tadawul Large Cap Index, Tadawul Medium Cap Index, Tadawul Small Cap Index and the Tadawul IPO Index. The maximum weight for any single stock will be 15 percent, following Tadawul All […]

Man in supermarket considering food prices

Saudi inflation continues downward trend to hit 2%

Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation eased to 2 percent in August from 2.3 percent the previous month, continuing a downward trend since a high of 3.4 percent in January.  The main driver of inflation during August was housing and an increase in rents of 10.8 percent, including 22.5 percent for apartments, the General Authority for Statistics […]

SAL is owned by Saudi Arabian Airlines - Saudia - and Tarabot

Saudi logistics company SAL announces IPO

Saudi Logistics Services Company – known as SAL – said on Tuesday it would launch an initial public offering of 30 percent of its shares on the Saudi market. It was not clear when the SAL IPO will take place. A statement said the price of each of the 24 million shares would be determined […]

Developer Talaat Moustafa's other projects include Noor City in East Cairo

Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa to help build Saudi ‘smart city’

Egyptian real estate developer Talaat Moustafa Group said on Sunday it had signed an agreement with the Saudi National Housing Company to build a residential and commercial suburb northeast of Riyadh. The value of the deal is estimated at SAR40 billion ($10.7 billion).  The community, described as a “smart city”, will include 27,750 residential units […]

Bank Of China is only the second Chinese bank to open a branch in Saudi Arabia

Bank of China opens Riyadh branch

Bank of China has opened its first branch in Riyadh with the aim of extending use of the yuan in finance and trade, Chinese and Saudi media reported.  One of China’s top four state banks, Bank of China opened the branch two years after obtaining approval from Saudi authorities with a staff of 20, most […]

The Saudi Fund for Development agreement with Oman is part of a $150-million Saudi support programme for the sultanate

Saudi Fund for Development deal supports SMEs in Oman

The Saudi Fund for Development signed an agreement in Oman this week to provide $53.33 million of funding for small and medium enterprises in the sultanate.  State news agency SPA said that the money, provided to the Oman Development Bank, was part of a $150 million Saudi aid programme for Oman, which has struggled to […]

Saudi banks slowdown giga-projects

Saudi banks face slowdown as giga-projects take toll

Saudi banks are witnessing a slowdown, impacting liquidity, net profits and share price across the sector, as the pressure of funding the kingdom’s giga-projects takes its toll, analysts say.  Growth in net profit at the top ten banks slowed to 0.3 percent in the second quarter and the Saudi index of bank stocks fell 18.8 […]

A currency exchange in Riyadh. Non-oil GDP growth is forecast at 4.9% this year and 4.4% in 2024

Saudi GDP grows 1.2% in second quarter

Saudi Arabia’s GDP grew 1.2 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, while oil activities decreased by 4.3 percent, the government said on August 7.  Saudi Arabia’s oil production cuts are set to continue to the end of the year. The kingdom’s GDP at current prices was valued at 970 billion Saudi riyals […]

Aramco Stellantis

Aramco and Dutch car maker make low-carbon fuel

Saudi oil major Aramco and Dutch car maker Stellantis have developed an e-fuel that will work without modifications in the engines of some 24 million vehicles already on European roads and using conventional petrol.  Recent tests showed the low-carbon fuel could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing internal combustion vehicles by at least 70 percent, […]

hydrogen fuel cell

UK company strikes Mideast deal for hydrogen generators

UK hydrogen fuel cell company AFC Energy has signed an agreement with a leading Saudi marketer to sell its hydrogen generators in the Middle East and Central Asia. The deal gives Saudi Arabia’s The Machinery Group (Tamgo) exclusive rights to market AFC Energy’s alternative to diesel-powered generators in 16 countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab […]

Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar

Pakistan reveals Saudi investment of $25 billion

Saudi Arabia will invest up to $25 billion over two years in Pakistan, according to a statement from Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.   The announcement was made to journalists at Mr Kakar’s residence in Islamabad, citing mining, agriculture and information technology as the main sectors to benefit.  There was no Saudi statement about the […]

Lockheed thaad defence

Saudi defence spending to rise further despite Iran detente

Saudi Arabia is set to maintain one of the highest defence expenditures relative to the GDP in the world, according to a leading data analysis firm, despite the current trend towards de-escalation with Iran.  Defence spending will grow 4.5 percent a year to $86.4 billion in 2028, from $65.3 billion in 2022 and a defence […]

Workers at the Lucid Motors plant in Arizona. PIF is Lucid's main investor and the company is building its first factory outside the US in Jeddah

Saudi company invests in US battery maker Pure Lithium

Saudi Arabian investment company Energy Capital Group has announced a collaboration with US tech startup Pure Lithium to develop renewable batteries.  The batteries will use lithium extracted from oilfield brines, giving a further boost to Saudi Arabia’s plans to dominate in green industries.  Based in Riyadh, Energy Capital Group did not disclose how much it […]

A petrol station in Riyadh. Saudi fuel subsidies represent 27% of GDP

Saudi Arabia has highest fuel subsidies per capita in G20

Saudi Arabia is by far the highest provider of fuel subsidies per capita among the G20 advanced economies, the IMF said this month as it called for fossil fuel price reforms to reduce carbon emissions.  The IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update working paper said Saudi Arabia spent almost $7,000 per person in 2022. […]

A residential community in Riyadh. Real estate deals in Saudi Arabia fell by nearly a third during the first half of 2023

Saudi Arabia pushes easy mortgage financing scheme

Saudi Arabia has increased funding for home ownership for citizens over the past year in an effort to reach Vision 2030 targets. The kingdom’s sluggish mortgage market has been affected by high US interest rates. The Saudi riyal is pegged to the US dollar, tying the Saudi mortgage market to US interest rate fluctuations. Residential […]

Saudi Pro League footbal - Al-Feiha's Mohammed Al Baqawi in action with Al-Hilal's Michael

Saudi football sells TV rights in hope of net profit

Saudi Arabia’s professional football league has sold broadcast rights to 12 networks across 130 countries for coverage of the 2023-24 season, following a spending spree on players that has captured global attention.  But wary of previous experience with China, broadcasters will be following closely to see if a global appetite exists for Saudi Arabia.  “The […]

A credit insurance deal with an affiliate of petrochemicals company Tasnee could boost Saudi non-oil exports

New Saudi bid to turn around sliding non-oil trade

Saudi Arabian non-oil trade exports, which have declined in the wake of oil production cuts, could get a boost via a credit insurance deal agreed this week with an affiliate of petrochemicals company National Industrialization Co (Tasnee).  The initiative, provided by the Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM Bank) through Evonik Tasnee Marketing, protects against the […]

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at the 2023 Brics Summit. The country will join the bloc in 2024

New Middle East members expand Brics reach

Four Middle East countries are to join the Brics bloc of developing countries, bridging regional political divides and signaling increased Chinese influence around the world. The new memberships of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as those of Argentina and Ethiopia, will be effective from 2024.  The decision to add […]

Two separate Hyundai companies will partner to build the processing plant in Saudi Arabia's Jafurah gas field

Saudi gas boost to benefit petrochemicals and oil trade

Saudi Arabia is likely to use an enormous shale gas play due to come into production next year to develop upstream petrochemicals and divert lucrative crude oil into exports, analysts say. Saudi Aramco, the state oil giant, says that the Jafurah field contains an estimated 200 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas, which […]