After investing billions in equities in the United States and elsewhere overseas, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is turning its focus to domestic investments in the Kingdom in 2021 and beyond, Bloomberg reports, citing comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund says it will invest $40 billion domestically in the Kingdom in 2021 and again in 2022, a total of $80 billion over two years.
According to Bloomberg, the PIF cut its holdings of U.S. equities in the third quarter by $3 billion to $7 billion, mainly by selling stakes in exchange-traded funds that track the real estate and materials sectors. But the PIF will keep its shares in Uber, the report said.
The PIF’s deep pockets, which stand at roughly $347 billion, is a driver for Saudi Arabia’s modernization drive. Rejuvenated under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic and social reform plans, the PIF went from an obscure Saudi holding company to one of the world’s most powerful sovereign wealth funds.
The fund intends to play a leading role in refocusing the economy toward tourism and economic diversification.
As Bloomberg notes, the $40 billion it says it will invest in 2021 is equivalent to more than 10% of government expenditure in that year, “and nearly equal to what the PIF, chaired by the crown prince, spent locally in the previous two years combined.”
