Saudi Arabia recorded second-quarter foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows down 85% year on year, an investment ministry report showed on Tuesday, with the reason for the significant drop attributed to the closing of state-owned Saudi Aramco’s IPO deal in the second quarter of 2021.
The FDI inflows were at 7.9 billion riyals ($2.1 billion) in the second quarter, compared with about 51.9 billion riyals ($13.81 billion) in the same period last year.
Excluding Aramco’s IPO pipeline deal in the second quarter of 2021, the Kingdom’s foreign direct investment grew 46.5% year on year, according to Reuters.
Attracting foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia is a top priority of government leaders seeking to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign direct investment reached its highest level in more than a decade last year.
