#Saudi stock market larger than country's economy, says Capital Market Authority chief

Saudi stock market larger than country's economy, says Capital Market Authority chief

The Saudi stock market is now larger than the Kingdom's entire economy — even without taking Aramco into consideration, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) chairman has said.

Speaking during a session organized by the Saudi Economic Association (SEA), Mohammed El-Kuwaiz revealed there are a further 54 listing applications pending — 31 of which are direct listings — as he highlighted the strength of the Tadawul.

With Aramco added, Tadawul's size is four times that of the economy, El-Kuwaiz said.

He argued the great momentum of a large number of companies for direct listing is because the Kingdom was the first to apply the direct listing mechanism in the GCC region.

He pointed out that CMA is currently evaluating the direct listing mechanism for the possibility of introducing improvements that are needed before applying the experience to the main market.