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  • Biden weighs meeting with Saudi Arabia’s MBS at G20 to talk mega-deal

    President Biden is considering meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of next month's G20 summit in New Delhi, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios. Why it matters: A meeting between the two leaders could give a significant push to the talks the White House has been holding with the Saudi government in an effort to reach a mega-deal that could include U.S. security guarantees for Riyadh, as well as a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

  • Opinion: Saudi’s MBS wants more than peace at his Ukraine summit

    Ukrainian officials say the venue is a boon for them “that completely destroys the narrative of Russia” that Ukraine is only supported by “countries of the collective West.” They expect as many as 40 nations to be represented, including the US and India. In the days ahead of the summit, the Ukrainians set out their intent. “Our goal in Saudi Arabia is to develop a unified vision of the formula and to work out the possibilities of holding the future Global Peace Summit,” they said, referring to Ukraine’s peace plan. That Moscow will only “monitor” and not attend risks the summit becoming a desert snowflake, momentarily awesome and inspiring, but blink and it’s gone.

  • Saudi Borrowing Costs Hit Record, Threatening Crown Prince MBS’ Vision 2030

    The cost of money as measured by the three-month Saudi Interbank Offered Rate, or Saibor, climbed above 6% this week, even higher than it was during the 2008 global financial crisis and after oil prices collapsed in 2020. The rate was below 1% only 18 months ago. Its rise has come as the US Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates to lower inflation, with its latest move of 25 basis points coming last week. The riyal is pegged to the dollar and the kingdom’s central bank has to follow the Fed’s decisions closely, even though Saudi inflation has been well below that of the US in the past two years.

  • How MBS’s Saudi Wealth Fund Could Take US Yields Higher: Chart

    Saudi Arabia is making riskier bets with its oil wealth. The aim is to generate a higher return to offset possible declines in crude prices. The consequences? Domestically, higher risks mean potential losses for the kingdom, according to Bloomberg Economics. Globally, the re-allocation of Saudi wealth could result in higher US interest rates.

  • Saudi Arabia’s MBS, Italy’s PM Meloni discuss issues of common concern

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday and discussed a range of topics and issues of common concern, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The Crown Prince and Meloni also reviewed bilateral relations.

  • Saudi Investors and MBS Head to Paris, Looking for Deals

    Bumper oil revenues have already transformed the country’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by Prince Mohammed, into an investing force with about $35 billion in U.S. assets alone (including stakes in Uber, PayPal and Electronic Arts) and a mandate to diversify the economy beyond fossil fuels. Badr Al Badr, the deputy minister for investor outreach, told DealBook that Saudi Arabia has about $3.2 trillion to invest by 2030. “That is why there are so many opportunities for investors,” he said.

  • MBS holds call with Putin, talks oil prices as Blinken visits Saudi Arabia

    Days after Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said the country would drop its oil output to 9 million bpd from 10 million bpd starting in July in a Sunday press release, the IMF lowered its forecast for the kingdom’s 2023 economic growth to 2.1%, down a full percent from its 3.1% forecast in May.

  • MBS-Blinken meeting highlights Saudi Arabia’s new Middle East policy

    Al-Ain media focused on discussions about economic cooperation, clean energy and technology. The report at AL-Ain also noted that the US had “discussed a comprehensive set of bilateral issues, such as the possibility of normalizing relations between the Kingdom and Israel, issues of Yemen, Sudan, and human rights.”

  • Saudi Arabian soccer league to get more state funding from policy backed by crown prince MBS | AP News

    The Saudi league has players from “over 40 different countries and has seen attendances increase by nearly 150% in the last year,” the statement from the SPA said. “The privatization and ownership transfer of clubs aims to accelerate progress in a variety of sports across the kingdom further growing participation, providing cutting edge facilities, increasing competition and nurturing future champions.”

  • Commentary: Saudi’s MBS Plays Diplomatic Balancing Act, But Can He Pull It Off?

    While the Saudi media describe his behavior as the creation of a new Arab order, MBS the flag bearer of the beginning of a new chapter in the region and the man to see an end to its conflicts, others see his position between democracies and dictatorships as a major gamble.