Saudi GDP up 1.4%, driven by non-oil sector: GASTAT 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has launched a $4 billion two-part bond, Arab News has been told.

The sovereign wealth fund confirmed that it had sold $2.4 billion of five-year debt instruments at 95 basis points over US Treasuries and $1.6 billion of nine-year securities at 110 basis points over the same benchmark.

The move comes just weeks after PIF closed its first Murabaha credit facility, securing $7 billion in funding, in what was a key step in the fund’s plan to raise capital over the next several years. 

PIF, widely recognised to be Saudi Arabia’s vibrant economic engine, is currently spearheading the nation’s economic diversification efforts, aligned with the goals outlined in Vision 2030. 

PIF manages $925 billion in assets, and is set to increase that to $2 trillion by 2030, a report from monitoring organization Global SWF forecast earlier in January.

Moody’s upgraded the rating of PIF in November, raising it from A1 to Aa3 with a stable outlook, reaffirming the fund’s strong financial position.

The US-based agency gives Aa3 for entities with high quality, low credit risk, and the best ability to repay short-term debts. 

According to Moody’s, the upgrade of PIF’s long-term issuer rating from A1 reflects strong credit linkage between the sovereign wealth fund and the Kingdom’s government. 

The Murabaha credit facility is supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions. 

In a statement at the time of its annoucement, PIF added that the closing of the Murabaha credit facility financing complements the fund’s successful sukuk issuances over the past two years, underscoring the body’s strong financial position and its best-practice approach to debt financing.

In August, PIF obtained a $15 billion revolving credit facility for general corporate purposes from a diverse global syndicate of 23 financial institutions from the US, Europe, and the Middle East as well as Asia. 

In a press statement, the wealth fund said that this credit facility is offered for an initial period of three years and is extendable for up to two additional years. 

A revolving loan is one that can be drawn, repaid and drawn again during the agreed lending period.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports surged 19.7 percent year on year in November to reach SR26.92 billion ($7.18 billion), bolstering the Kingdom’s efforts to diversify its economy. 

According to the General Authority for Statistics, chemical products led the growth, accounting for 24 percent of total non-oil exports, followed by plastic and rubber products, which made up 21.7 percent of shipments. 

Building a robust non-oil sector is a key goal of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program, which seeks to transform the Kingdom’s economy and reduce its reliance on oil revenues, with  Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim revealing in November that these activities now constitute 52 percent of the  gross domestic product. 

In its latest report, GASTAT said: “The ratio of non-oil exports (including re-exports) to imports increased to 36.6 percent in November 2024 from 34.8 percent in November 2023. This was due to a 19.7 percent increase in non-oil exports and a 13.9 percent increase in imports over that period.” 

The Kingdom’s total merchandise exports fell 4.7 percent year on year in November, weighed down by a 12 percent drop in oil exports. This decline reduced the share of oil exports in total shipments to 70.3 percent, down from 76.3 percent a year earlier, signaling progress in Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification. 

GASTAT reported that China remained Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner in November, with exports to the Asian nation totaling SR13.53 billion. 

Other key destinations for exports included Japan with SR8.93 billion, the UAE with SR8.75 billion, and India with SR8.74 billion. 

Saudi Arabia’s imports rose 13.9 percent year on year in November, reaching SR73.65 billion. However, the merchandise trade surplus declined by 44.3 percent during the same period, falling to SR16.89 billion. 

China remained the dominant supplier of goods to the Kingdom, accounting for SR20.11 billion of imports, followed by the US at SR7.52 billion and the UAE at SR3.90 billion. 

King Abdulaziz Sea Port in Dammam emerged as the top entry point for imports, handling goods valued at SR18.19 billion, representing 24.7 percent of total inbound shipments.