Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Saudi Arabia

Business news and financial news from Saudi Arabia, covering the biggest Saudi companies including Saudi Aramco, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Sabic, Riyadh Air, Saudia and Saudi National Bank

Investors confer at Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The market's all-time high came in November 2022

Outlook for Gulf bourses is upbeat despite oil price jitters

The Gulf’s stuttering stock markets are probably not indicating the start of a downturn, analysts have told AGBI, but are a good opportunity for investors to snap up cheaper shares. Dubai aside, the region’s bourses have been broadly lacklustre this year although heavyweight sectors such as banking and petrochemicals have reported a marked increase in […]

Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, head of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence: 'The rise of generative AI presents ethical dilemmas we must confront head on'

Saudi Arabia pledges to ‘confront’ risks posed by AI

Saudi Arabia is determined to be “at the forefront” of artificial intelligence funding and development, a senior official told an AI conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. However, Abdullah bin Sharaf Alghamdi, head of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence, also said the kingdom was wary about the security implications of AI and would take […]

A container vessel docked at Jeddah Islamic Port, which handled 5.58m containers in 2023

New shipping route links Jeddah to major Indian ports

Saudi Arabia has launched a new shipping route between Jeddah Islamic Port and Mundra and Nhava Sheva, two of India’s largest ports.  The 10-day service, operated by Folk Maritime Services, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, started this month. The new route aims to increase the movement of goods such as petrochemicals, aligning with […]

Local vendors at the Souq Al Zel in Riyadh. The Saudi economy will come out of negative year-on-year growth this year "almost certainly" said one analyst

Analysts predict growth despite Saudi GDP fall

Saudi Arabia’s year-on-year GDP fell again in the second quarter, according to adjusted government figures released this week, but analysts have said the quarterly increase shows the economy is nearing the end of its negative run.  GDP was down 0.3 percent year on year in the second quarter, but has risen by 1.4 percent since […]

Saudi fund Bahamas North Eleuthera International Airport

Saudi fund loans $55m to expand Bahamas airport

Saudi Arabia will provide $55 million financing for the development of an airport project in The Bahamas that will more than double its capacity. The project aims to expand North Eleuthera International Airport’s operational capacity from 300,000 to 700,000 visitors annually, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The expansion will generate more than 300 direct […]

A woman arranges luxury fragrance in a Riyadh mall; Saudi Arabia hopes to increase tourist spending with a tax refund scheme

Saudi Arabia plans refund scheme to cater for tourists

Saudi Arabia is planning to introduce a tourist tax refund scheme in an attempt to boost visitor numbers and compete with its Gulf neighbours.  The Zakat, Customs and Tax Authority opened a public consultation at the end of August on proposed changes to tax regulations that aim to improve compliance with valued added tax legislation […]

Saudi e-commerce woman shopping on laptop The growth in e-commerce is aligned with government efforts to attract venture capital and promote small businesses

Online retail sales in Saudi Arabia to double, report says

Ecommerce in Saudi Arabia’s retail sector is likely to double between 2020 and 2025, with annual compound growth of 15 percent a year, a government report has revealed.  “As the second-highest venture capital-funded sector in Saudi Arabia, ecommerce is booming,” the report by the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority said.  Venture capital funding in ecommerce […]

A view of King Abdullah Economic City. Developer Emaar EC says it "stands at a vital inflection point"

Emaar EC’s new strategy to steer financial recovery

Emaar the Economic City (Emaar EC), the master developer of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Saudi Arabia, has initiated a SAR8.7 billion ($2.3 billion) turnaround plan a month after its first-half 2024 losses showed an almost five-fold increase from 2023. A capital optimisation plan will allow the Saudi-listed company to restructure its SAR3.8 billion in bank facilities. […]

Visitors at the real estate exhibition Seredo 2024 held in Jeddah in May. Saudi Arabia is targeting 70% homeownership by 2030

Saudi Arabia woos US investors to bolster housing sector

As growth in mortgage lending in Saudi Arabia runs up against local liquidity constraints, several US investment giants are looking to step in. After a visit by Saudi officials to the US at the end of August, household names such as BlackRock and King Street Capital signed preliminary agreements with the Saudi Real Estate Refinance […]

Adult, Male, Man

Saudi Arabia open to joint mining ventures with China

Saudi Arabia is open to joint investments with Chinese mining companies, mineral resources minister Bandar Alkhorayef has said. The kingdom is seeking collaborations in processing and producing lithium used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as well as processing and refining copper, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. During a meeting with senior executives of General […]

Saudi hotel llicences. Hajj pilgrims from Indonesia at a hotel in Mecca. Pilgrimages form a large part of Saudi Arabia's tourism goals

Saudi Arabia scraps hotel licence fees to draw investment

Saudi Arabia has removed licensing fees for hotels and resorts in a further effort to increase tourism and improve the kingdom’s investment environment.  The Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Municipalities and Housing said they would ask hotel establishments to reapply for operating licences online. The decision applies to hotels, hotel apartments and residential resorts.  […]

PIF spending Yasir Al-Rumayyan

PIF spending to hit $70bn a year early, says IMF

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will raise its annual spending to $70 billion in 2025, a year earlier than previously announced, according to an International Monetary Fund official.  PIF’s governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan told a Saudi investment summit in February that the sovereign wealth fund would increase its annual capital spending from around $50 billion a […]

Traders at the Saudi stock exchange. Fourth Milling will not receive any proceeds from the IPO, which will be distributed to the selling shareholders

Fourth Milling to launch retail IPO next month

The two-day retail tranche of the Fourth Milling Company’s (MC4) initial public offering (IPO) will begin on October 2. The company will sell 162 million shares, or 30 percent of its share capital, on the Saudi stock exchange, it said in its prospectus. The price range announcement and institutional book building will commence on September […]

Saudi bond issuance on the international market has been worth almost $27 billion in the year so far, well ahead of Poland in second place

Saudi Arabia leads international bond issuance

Saudi Arabia is the leading emerging market issuer of sovereign and quasi-sovereign international bonds, and experts predict the kingdom will expand its borrowings further to help fund infrastructure spending. Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy despite a 0.8 percent decline in real GDP last year, sold $26.8 billion of international bonds from January 1 […]

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas. Only Saudia and British Airways currently offer direct flights between London and Riyadh

Virgin Atlantic confirms partnership with Riyadh Air

Virgin Atlantic has signed a partnership with Riyadh Air, which will start when the new Saudi national carrier launches next year. Riyadh Air has been expected to announce cooperation agreements with other operators.  A statement said the partnership would open new destinations in Saudi Arabia and beyond, and would include Virgin’s London-Riyadh route, but gave […]

Saudi Arabia's non-oil growth is forecast to reach 4.4 percent in the medium term, following a slight moderation in 2024, said the IMF

IMF says oil cuts phase-out will aid Saudi economy

The phase-out of oil production cuts is expected to help increase Saudi Arabia’s overall growth to 4.7 percent in 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. However, growth is expected to average 3.7 percent annually beyond 2025, the fund said in its latest staff report. Despite the contraction of 0.8 percent in overall growth […]

Tabby IPO: it has 12 million customers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait

Mubadala-backed Tabby prepares for Saudi IPO

Tabby, the buy-now-pay-later startup backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, is on track to prepare for its initial public offering, the company’s CEO confirmed on Wednesday. The fintech unicorn – a startup worth more than $1 billion – was originally founded in the UAE but is now headquartered in Saudi Arabia. It is […]

Saudi Arabia’s assistant investment minister, Ibrahim Al Mubarak, says FDI has risen 150% since 2016

Saudi Arabia cuts more red tape to tempt foreign investors

Saudi Arabia is simplifying its registration process for foreign investors as part of its strategy to attract more international companies. The government approved a revamp of its investment law last month, aiming to reassure overseas investors that they would be on a level playing field with Saudi nationals.  The reforms come into effect in January […]