“The non-oil PMI remained unchanged month-on-month in May, standing at 55.7, as business activity remained robust, despite respondents reporting higher input costs.”
According to new data released by the General Authority for Statistics, “The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia fell to 10.1 percent in the first quarter, down from 11 percent at the end of last year. The rate reached 5.1 percent for male citizens and 20.2 percent for females… The labor force participation rate for women rose to 33.6% surpassing the Vision 2030 target.”
[Zawya]
“IPOs have held up very well in the GCC due to high interest from international and regional investors in recent offerings and the upcoming ECM pipeline. We’ve seen continuous net foreign inflows across all GCC exchanges, even during the recent selloff, a sign that foreign investors are buying this market despite the global volatility.”
Rudy Saadi, head of ECM, MENA region at Citigroup Inc. [Arabian Business]
“If you’re going to Saudi Arabia to ask for additional supplies now, it’s the absolute wrong time. Saudi Arabia is in the middle of the summer. The summer burn is when they supply crude oil for electricity generation in the country, so their ability to add huge volumes is limited right now. It doesn’t make a lot of sense—especially if you look at the gasoline situation now. People are talking about the crunch at the end of this quarter not really being crude oil but more about refining capacity.”
Frank Verrastro, Senior Advisor, Energy and Climate Change Program, CSIS. The Middle East and Global Energy Markets [Center for Strategic and International Studies]
“At the time I saw great opportunity in Saudi Arabia; there was an untapped market, a rapidly evolving economy, and a real desire for change…I saw these changes as a high-potential opportunity that we should not miss out on. And now we are living it.”
Mohammad Hashboul, who left a promising career at state oil company Aramco for a management job at Uber in 2016. [CSM]
“[W]hen it comes to Saudi Arabia, what we said is we needed to recalibrate the relationship to make sure that it more effectively reflected our own interests, our own values, but not rupture it, because we’ve got a multiplicity of interests involved and our values. And so when it comes to the relationship broadly, Saudi Arabia’s been an important partner in dealing with extremism. It’s been an important partner in contending with challenges posed by Iran.”
-Antony Blinken, in comments to Jake Tapper on CNN program, State Of The Union. [CNN]
“Fintech apps that offer convenient services such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) will be used by half of the consumers in the Middle East and Africa in 2022, according to RedSeer. The number of fintech firms in the region is expected to surpass 465 this year, with ten platforms offering BNPL services. The convenience of split payments and online transactions has impacted consumer behavior.”
Saudi Arabia’s Alhokair family buys stake in Egyptian BNPL platform valU [Fast Company]
“Saudi Arabia is a very important country in the Gulf and it has shown a willingness and openness to hosting me.”
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, President Biden’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism will travel to Saudi Arabia on her first international trip, the State Department announced Thursday. [The Hill]
“When I first went to Saudi Arabia more than 20 years ago, everything was black and white—literally. Saudi women were rarely seen without a billowing black abaya. Saudi men all seemed to wear identical white thobes, until you noticed how collars, cuffs, and pockets offered endless options for personalization. Saudi Arabia is no longer so black and white. An increasing number of Saudi women wear colorful abayas and often leave them open; an increasing number of Saudi men opt for jeans and T-shirts. Young Saudi women and men alike have flooded into service jobs, from working in coffee shops to driving Ubers. There is energy and creativity. It is a different place, and it prompts a rethinking.”
-Jon B. Alterman, a senior vice president, holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and is director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. [csis.org]
“The authorities’ commitment to fiscal discipline should help further strengthen fiscal and external sustainability and avoid procyclicality while implementation of the ambitious structural reform agenda will help ensure a durable, inclusive and green recovery.”
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission conducted discussions in Saudi Arabia for the 2022 Article IV Consultation from May 23‒June 6. [International Monetary Fund]
