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  • Saudi Government Revenue Surges Nearly 50% in Q1
     

    Government revenue surged to SR245 billion ($65 billion) the first quarter of this year, an increase of 48 percent year-on-year, according to recent data revealed by Jadwa Investment. Both oil and non-oil revenue saw sizable rises. Government oil revenue rose by 48 percent, to SR169 billion ($45 billion), and was boosted by a SR124 billion ($33 billion) dividend […]

     
  • Senate Fails to Override Trump Veto on Yemen War
     

    The Senate on Thursday fell short of the votes needed to override President Trump’s veto of legislation demanding an end of U.S. support for the Saudi-led military coalition operating in Yemen. The resolution passed in the House and Senate would have ended all U.S. involvement with the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the war in Yemen. It marked […]

     
  • IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook Says Saudi Needs $85 Oil for Fiscal Balance
     

    A recently-released IMF report on the oil-producing Middle East and North African economies said that Saudi Arabia’s newest breakeven price for oil – the price of oil at which its government could fund its operations without a deficit – is $85 on the Brent index. The report is a quarterly update on the economies of oil-producing […]

     
  • Saudi Youth Unemployment Numbers Improve Significantly in 2018, Report Reveals
     

    A recently released report by Jadwa Investment, citing latest government data, shows major gains in curbing high youth unemployment in the Kingdom. Overall unemployment declined slightly in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2018, to 12.7 percent by the end of 2018, from 12.8 percent in 2017, according to data from the latest General Authority for […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia to Invest $35 Billion in Movie Theaters by 2020; Seeks 2,500 Screens
     

    Saudi Arabia’s General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM) announced that the Kingdom will spend $35 billion on cinemas by 2020, according to reports. The announcement was made Thursday at CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The GCAM is the authority in charge of issuing cinema licenses […]

     
  • PIF-backed Uber Technologies Buys Regional Rival Careem for $3.1 Billion
     

    It’s the biggest tech deal the Middle East region has ever seen. Uber Technologies, Inc. is buying regional ride-sharing rival Careem for $3.1 billion, $1.7 billion in convertible notes and $1.4 billion in cash. Dubai-based Careem successfully rivaled Uber in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East region, amassing 30 million users across 90 […]

     
  • King Salman Announces New Governor of the General Authority for Foreign Trade in Weekend Royal Orders
     

    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman issued several royal orders on Saturday appointing a number of officials to positions, including appointing Abdulrahman Al-Harbi to be the first governor of the General Authority for Foreign Trade. Al-Harbi is serving as Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment in Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce and Investment. The […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia Enters Global Race for 5G Telecom with New STC Deals
     

    Saudi Arabia is in the global race to launch one of the first 5G telecom networks in the world and the largest 5G in the Middle East and North Africa, according to reports. The stakes are high for all countries in the 5G race; the new cellular system will potentially transform the world as we […]

     
  • VAT Rollout in Saudi Arabia ‘Raised More Revenue than Initially Expected’ – Latest PWC Middle East Economy Watch
     

    The latest Middle East Economy Watch quarterly report by PWC examined the economic impact of the VAT roll out in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, noting that “with some caveats, the early data suggests that the inflationary impact of the tax has been contained, the impact on growth is limited and in Saudi Arabia it has raised more revenue […]

     
  • PIF-backed Saudi mortgage refinancing firm to expand offering in 2019 – Report
     

    The Public Investment Fund-backed Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) expects to issue its first public sukuk this year and a second private placement in the next two weeks, while developing further plans to finance an expansion of the kingdom’s home mortgage market, according to reports. Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co., a unit of the kingdom’s […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi’s flynas strikes deal for 75 Airbus A320neos, 15 A330s

     Low-cost Saudi airline flynas has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab for 75 of its narrow-body A320neo family aircraft and 15 of its wide-body A330-900 jets, the companies said at the Farnborough Airshow on Thursday.  The A320neo deal is worth about $4 billion and the A330 deal about $1.7 billion, according to estimated delivery prices from Cirium Ascend. Reuters reported that flynas was negotiating an A330 deal ahead of the air show.

  • Aramco and PIF invest in Saudi-Chinese steel venture

    Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund have doubled their investment in a steel plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million. The two Saudi companies each own 25 percent shares in the new venture in Ras Al Khair industrial city, Bloomberg reported, quoting a statement published on the Chinese stock exchange. Chinese state-backed Baoshan Iron & Steel has doubled its investment in the venture to $1 billion. The Shanghai-listed producer holds the remaining 50 percent stake.

  • A guide to Saudi Arabia’s athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics

    Saudi athletes will be competing across four sports — athletics, equestrian, swimming and taekwondo — with seven men and three women included in the Paris-bound delegation. A total of four medals were scooped by Saudi athletes in 12 previous appearances at the Olympics, most recently a silver clinched by Tareq Hamedi in karate in Tokyo 2020.

  • Harris pushes Netanyahu to ease suffering in Gaza: ‘I will not be silent’

    U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden. "It is time for this war to end," Harris said in a televised statement after she held face-to-face talks with Netanyahu. Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the election race on Sunday, did not mince words about the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza after nine months of war between Israel and Hamas militants.

  • H1 2024 MENA Venture Investment

    In H1 2024, the MENA region secured $768M in total funding, experiencing a 34% decline from H1 2023. However, if we exclude MEGA (+$100M) deals, we see that the non-MEGA funding in H1 2024 saw a 3% increase compared to H1 2023. Interestingly, this increase was primarily driven by a 48% QoQ increase in non-MEGA deal funding we saw in Q2 2024. In contrast, SEA and Africa saw substantial declines in non-MEGA deal funding in H1 2024, compared to H1 2023, with SEA and Africa experiencing 37% and 55% declines, respectively.

  • How Israeli attack helped Houthis push Saudis to tame Yemeni rivals

    In Yemen, the Ansarullah movement and the internationally-recognized government have struck an “economic de-escalation accord” reportedly mediated by Saudi Arabia. The agreement is a major breakthrough for Ansarullah, better known as the Houthis. The group had threatened the Kingdom with “war” unless escalating economic warfare by its Yemeni rivals was halted. The Saudi mediation notably follows warnings by senior Houthi officials of a severe response if Riyadh is found to have enabled the recent Israeli airstrikes in Yemen.

  • UAE, Saudi Arabia lead strong GCC consumer shift towards flexitarianism, healthy eating

    The GCC region, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, is seeing a strong consumer shift towards eating healthy, with an increasingly high share of non-vegetarians opting for more plant-based diets, industry experts said. This shift is poised to trigger a projected eight-fold surge in the size of the plant-based meat market to $500 million by 2030 from a mere $60 million in 2023, recent market research suggests. In contrast, the region’s meat market, estimated at $17 billion last year, is projected to reach only $26 billion during this period – a mere 53 percent rise.

  • Netanyahu sketches vague outline for post-war Gaza

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sketched a vague outline of a plan for a "deradicalized" post-war Gaza in a speech to Congress on Wednesday and touted a potential future alliance between Israel and America's Arab allies. While dozens of Democrats boycotted his remarks and thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated nearby, Netanyahu dismissed criticism of an Israeli campaign that has devastated the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 39,000 of its residents, according to Gaza health officials.

  • Staggering 68 pct of Saudi firms plan to use GenAI for enhanced security: Study

    Some 68 percent of organizations in Saudi Arabia plan to use generative AI (GenAI) within the next 12 months to enhance security measures, a new study by exposure management company Tenable found. The data for the study was commissioned in October 2023 by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Tenable.

  • Temporary ban on Brazilian poultry imports will not impact Saudi market, says committee

    The National Committee of Poultry Producers at the Federation of Saudi Chambers has downplayed the impact of the temporary ban on importing poultry products from Brazil due to the outbreak of Newcastle disease on the Saudi market. The committee's chairman, Mohammed Al-Shaya, stated that the temporary ban from Brazil would not significantly affect the quantities available in the Saudi market or the prices. This is because the Kingdom relies on local production to meet its market needs for both fresh and frozen poultry.