In the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia’s ambitious sovereign wealth fund scented an opportunity.
As global markets plummeted, the Public Investment Fund went on a spending spree, buying stakes in a host of US and European blue-chip stocks in the first three months of the year, worth collectively at least $7.7bn.
But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader and the PIF’s chair, last month signalled a potential shift in focus as Saudi Arabia, like other Gulf countries, grapples with a rising fiscal deficit and an economy battered by the pandemic and the fall in oil prices.
In a November speech to the Shura Council, an advisory body, Prince Mohammed said the $347bn fund would pump about $40bn into the Saudi economy annually in 2021 and 2022, up from $15.5bn last year.
“This liquidity will be provided through monetisation and recycling of the fund's investments to enter into new opportunities, [and] create a local economic cycle that enables the emergence of new sectors,” he said.
As global markets plummeted, the Public Investment Fund went on a spending spree, buying stakes in a host of US and European blue-chip stocks in the first three months of the year, worth collectively at least $7.7bn.
But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader and the PIF’s chair, last month signalled a potential shift in focus as Saudi Arabia, like other Gulf countries, grapples with a rising fiscal deficit and an economy battered by the pandemic and the fall in oil prices.
In a November speech to the Shura Council, an advisory body, Prince Mohammed said the $347bn fund would pump about $40bn into the Saudi economy annually in 2021 and 2022, up from $15.5bn last year.
“This liquidity will be provided through monetisation and recycling of the fund's investments to enter into new opportunities, [and] create a local economic cycle that enables the emergence of new sectors,” he said.
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