“Here, Islam is presented not in creedal but rather in motivational tenets: moderation and tolerance, excellence and discipline, equity and transparency, and determination and perseverance.”

-Kristin Smith Diwan discusses the Saudi Character Enrichment Program, part of Saudi Vision 2030 that was stressed in the initial roll-out of Vision 2030.  With new austerity measures being introduced, Diwan suggests the program and it’s social and economic goals may see renewed emphasis. [Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington]

“Looking ahead to the remainder of 2020, we expect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global energy demand and oil prices to weigh on our earnings. We continue to reinforce the business during this period by reducing our capex and driving operational excellence.”

-Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco.

“…the increase in VAT will impact all sectors in the economy, and that will impact the whole market. Yes, we will see change in sentiment. We will see pressure, but nevertheless, this is something that is needed; certain austerity measures are needed at times when you’re required to act.”

-Marwan Shurrab of Al Ramz Capital commenting on Saudi austerity measures in Bloomberg Quint. [Bloomberg]

“These are the priorities: the health care of people and the livelihood of people, and we want to make sure that we maintain our fiscal strength so that as the economy gets out of the lockdown, we are able to support the economy. We are not cutting spending, we are reallocating spending. So, we would end up with spending almost as budgeted because of the increase in spending that we have allocated both to support the economy and the private sector and the jobs of Saudi employees in the private sector.”

-H.E. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s minister of finance, in a telephone interview discussing new austerity measures taken by the Kingdom in the face of harsh economic realities resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic. [bloomberg.com]

“This has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. This has to do with other countries, frankly, much more.”

-U.S. President Donald Trump, on the decision to remove Patriot missile batteries and dozens of troops from Saudi Arabia, first reported by the Wall Street Journal yesterday. [apnews.com]

“Regulation and government services also play a key role in the transition to a cashless society. The Saudi economy is conducive to the adoption of digital solutions, as the country enjoys a large, tech- savvy population, integrated e-government infrastructure and a supportive regulatory environment. These factors have also been beneficial to the fight against Covid-19, as the authorities were able to take proactive and technology-based measures. Most recently, in April 2020 the Nafith digital platform was launched, enabling banks to expand their digital financing offerings to customers.”

-Faisal Omar Alsaggaf, CEO, National Commercial Bank, talks about the enabling role of Saudi banks amid COVID-19 and beyond. [zawya.com]

“Saudi Arabia was the only one of OPEC’s top four producers to boost sales to India in April, according to Bloomberg tanker tracking. The kingdom’s shipments to China doubled, and its exports to the U.S. reached 1 million barrels a day, the most since August 2018.”

-Bloomberg Quint examines Saudi Arabia’s aggressive approach in a global fight for crude sales in a depressed economic environment. [Bloomberg|Quint]

“Our inbuilt systems for managing global crises ensure all our sites remain operational. Our supply chains also remain uninterrupted, as we continue to work with our partners to ensure safe delivery of materials…In our response to COVID-19… we have implemented measures to reduce the risk of infection and to mitigate the virus’s impact on our people and our business.”

-Saudi Aramco, in a statement on Monday confirming that its operations and supply chains were uninterrupted despite the outbreak of the new coronavirus. [reuters.com]

“Riyadh effectively set the minimum bid ($500m). The result: The first $8 billion that had been set as a goal will likely be raised on Monday.”

-SPIEGEL International reports on today’s donor conference hosted by the European Commission to raise money to expedite work on medications, tests and vaccinations that can help combat COVID-19.  The EU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many countries want to join forces to make that happen. [SPIEGEL]

“It’s so crazy now when you go to government offices and you just see men and women mixing and exchanging ideas, especially younger generations…Here in Saudi we have an amazing opportunity…I think young millennials and Gen Z are coming up believing that they can conquer the world. And that is exactly the right approach.”

-Tala al-Jabri, Saudi consultant and venture capital investor, on changes in the Kingdom. [FT.com]