DUBAI: Saudi Arabia confirmed on Wednesday its first case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant on a passenger coming from Africa, state news agency SPA reported. The passenger, along with those he was in contact with, has been isolated, SPA added. The spread of the latest strain comes as Saudi Arabia’s ban on direct travel from several countries ended, … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s ban on direct travel from a number of countries came to an end on Wednesday, as the country continues to relax travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, Arab News reported. Travellers from six countries including India, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil and Vietnam can now arrive in the Kingdom without having to spend 14 days … Read more
CAIRO: PJP Investment Group has announced its partnership with Papa John’s to open more than 100 new restaurants in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, Arab News quoted a statement, as saying. PJP, which specialises in food and beverages and is wholly-owned by Levant Capital, opened the first four new outlets in Riyadh on … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is taking more steps to develop and protect the Red Sea, which the kingdom deems to be a big contributor to the growth of its tourism industry, Arab News reported. The Saudi Cabinet approved on Tuesday the establishment of a new body to protect the coral reefs and sea turtles in the Red Sea, … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia issued licenses to 16 fintech companies in the third quarter of 2021, Sabq quoted Saudi Central Bank governor, as saying at an event. Fahad Almubarak said 13 of those companies work in the field of payments and electronic wallets, and three firms are engaged in insurance and finance sector. Saudi Arabia witnessed a 37 … Read more
GENEVA, The World Health Organization warned Monday the new Covid-19 Omicron variant poses a “very high” risk globally, despite uncertainties about the danger and contagion levels of the new strain. The UN health agency said the Covid strain first discovered in southern Africa was a “highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations… some of which are concerning … Read more
DUBAI: The new Covid-19 variant, omicron, has prompted global economic concerns, as fears of its spread begin to affect stock markets and oil prices, Arab News reported. Saudi Arabia’s main market, the Tadawul All Share Index, opened 5.3 per cent lower on Sunday, trading near 10,700 points. The Dubai Financial Market was down 8.49 per cent in … Read more
CAIRO: Net foreign assets held by the Saudi Central Bank went down by a monthly rate of 3.3 per cent to reach SR1.63 trillion ($433 billion) in October, Arab News quoted newly released data by SAMA. The central bank’s net foreign assets declined by 2 per cent compared to last year’s October. Commercial banks’ net foreign assets … Read more
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s budget airline flyadeal aims at nurturing and promoting local women talent, as it is doubling its fleet by the end of the next year, its chief commercial officer told Arab News. Ahmed Albrahim said the low-cost airline’s fleet contains 15 A320 narrow-bodies, and it will continue to receive more aircraft of the A320 … Read more
S&P Global Ratings has revised Bahrain’s outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ on the back of new fiscal reforms aimed at improving non-oil revenues and cutting state spending, Reuters quoted the ratings agency, as saying in a statement. Rated below investment grade, Bahrain was bailed out to avoid a credit crunch in 2018 with a $10 … Read more
RIYADH: The value of point-of-sale transactions in Saudi Arabia reached SR40.5 billion ($10.8 billion) in October, up 1.2 per cent, compared with the previous month, Arab News quoted the Saudi Central Bank, as saying. Some of the sectors that helped drive the increase were restaurants and cafes, hotels, food and beverages, clothing and footwear. For … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Saturday, announced commencing direct flights between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. According to the flight schedule released by PIA, the national flag carrier will operate 35 weekly flights to Saudi Arabia from December 1, Bol News. The PIA spokesman said that flights would depart from Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Islamabad and … Read more
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet through a circulation summary on Saturday gave State Bank of Pakistan approval to keep $3 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia. A day earlier, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, in a tweet, had said that all legal requirements to receive the $3 billion dollars from the kingdom would be … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top gamers have begun battling it out for a share of a SR4 million ($1.1million) prize pot at the kingdom’s e-League Champions event, Arab News reported. Winners from two other e-sports events held this year have come together for a final competition in Riyadh’s Media City, which kicked off on Friday, November 26 and … Read more
RIYADH: Venture capital impact investment in Saudi Arabia reached a new high in 2021 in both total number of transactions and capital deployed, Arab News quoted a report produced by MAGNiTT and Saudi Aramco. Impact investments are those aimed at generating a measurable social and environmental benefit alongside a financial return. Impact funding in the kingdom up … Read more
RIYADH: Gulf Capital, a financial institution based in the UAE, has added Dubai and Abu Dhabi to the list of possible markets for the initial public offerings of one of its assets in 2022, CEO Karim El-Solh told Al-Bayan paper. The return of IPOs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi financial markets have encouraged the company to consider … Read more
RIYADH: US investment bank Moelis and Co plans to open an office in the Saudi capital Riyadh and will soon begin hiring staff in the kingdom, Bloomberg reported. The New York-based company sees the kingdom attracting more foreign investors and benefiting from an “energy supercycle,” Vice Chairman Eric Cantor said in an interview. The boutique financial adviser, … Read more
Saudi Arabia is making the transition to a more diversified economy, after being reliant upon oil for much of the past century, a trend sparked by Vision 2030 as well as commitments made at the COP26 Summit last month, Arab News reported. While corporate giants such as Aramco and Sabic continue to dominate the economy, a culture … Read more
RIYADH: No Saudi banks were lost during the financial crisis of 2008/9 and the financial sector is again in a strong position as it faces the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Saudi Central Bank Governor Fahad Almubarak. The central bank, also known as SAMA, has been and continues to be strict in … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain late on Thursday night shared three news with the nation. Fawad, in a tweet, shared that the Petroleum Dealers Association had called off their strike after successful negotiattions with the government. He also shared that Saudi Arabia has announced to operate direct flights from the country. … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, which reported last month a surplus in its first quarterly budget surplus since the first quarter of 2019, is applying restraints on spending even, as oil prices are trading near multiyear high, Arab News reported. The Saudi Ministry of Finance has started to apply the spending cap regardless of the oil price and revenues, … Read more
RIYADH: Foreign inflows in the Saudi capital market since 2019 have reached nearly SR135 billion ($35.98 billion), despite the kingdom being at an early stage in dealing with external investors, Arab News quoted Capital Market Authority chairman Mohammed ElKuwaiz, as saying. Opening the market for foreign investment supports diversification of funding sources for listed companies, ElKuwaiz said, … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is preparing 160 privatisation deals and intends to announce more of these operations next year, Arab News quoted Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, as saying. Speaking at the Financial Stability Conference, Al-Jadaan said while the Al-Jadaan will not be fully privatiSed as a service provider, parts of it, such as radiology, could be. He … Read more
RIYADH: Bahrain has launched a new strategic project plan to invest $30 billion in over 20 new projects, with the construction of five new offshore cities, according to the Bahrain News Agency. The strategic project plan will see infrastructure development, including a new causeway connecting Bahrain to Saudi Arabia. Bahrain will also establish a 109km metro … Read more
RIYADH: The Red Sea Development Company has entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Culture to deliver Saudi Arabia’s first underwater archaeological excavation, Arab News reported. The agreement with the ministry aims at uniting efforts in the fields of archeology, heritage, history and sustainable tourism along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast and will hopefully lead to … Read more
RIYADH: Hotel operator Marriott International has signed an agreement with Saudi’s Sela Sport Company to develop two new luxury hotels in Saudi Arabia, Arab News reported. The St Regis Riyadh and The Jeddah Edition are expected to open in prime city locations in 2022. The former is to be located at the entrance of the Diplomatic Quarter … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund has said it had deployed SR2 billion ($533 million) on tourism projects worth a total of around SR6 billion since its establishment last year until the end of September this year, Arab News reported. The remaining SR4 billion for the projects have come from the private sector, the fund said in … Read more
MOSCOW: Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US Treasury securities recorded slight change in September, Arab News reported. The total value of the securities held by Saudi residents stood at $124.3 billion as of the end of September, up 0.2 percent from $124.1 billion in August, according to the latest data from the US Department of Treasury. … Read more
