Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued a directive to allocate SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) from the kingdom’s reserves to the Public Investments Fund (PIF) in a bid to boost investment revenues.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, the country’s sovereign wealth fund will focus over the coming period on a number of promising opportunities in domestic and international markets, particularly some expected high yields opportunities in the local market.
Under economic reforms announced early this year, the Saudi government said it aims eventually to expand the PIF, founded in 1971 to finance development projects in the country, from $160 billion to about $2 trillion and increase investments abroad.
The move comes as net foreign assets at Saudi Arabia’s central bank shrank by $10.8 billion from a month earlier to $535.9 billion in October.
Assets tumbled by 16.3 percent from a year earlier to their lowest level since December 2011. They reached a record high of $737 billion in August 2014 before starting to fall.
The allocated fund would be invested according to specific periodic phases and in light of the kingdom’s vision 2030 and its objectives, SPA reported.
It added that such investments are expected to have a positive role on the overall investments revenues and the diversification of the national income resources as well.
On Monday, PIF said it plans to buy a major stake in Adeptio, the Gulf-based investment firm which controls Kuwait Food Co (Americana).
PIF said it would buy 50 percent of Adeptio from UAE-based billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, who would keep the rest of Adeptio. It did not give financial details of the deal.
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