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From London, Tadawul Makes First Step towards the World

CEO of Saudi Tadawul Mohammed Al-Rumaih speaking during the conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
CEO of Saudi Tadawul Mohammed Al-Rumaih speaking during the conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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From London, Tadawul Makes First Step towards the World

CEO of Saudi Tadawul Mohammed Al-Rumaih speaking during the conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
CEO of Saudi Tadawul Mohammed Al-Rumaih speaking during the conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) took its first step toward the world, starting from London, with the launching of the EFG Hermes Saudi Forum on Monday, under the theme, “Looking for Sustainable Growth.”

Participants, including investors, businessmen and stakeholders, gathered on Monday at the Rosewood Hotel in central London, to discuss the investment climate, the available opportunities, and the promising investment components that are unique to the Saudi economy.

The conference, which concludes on Tuesday, is organized by EFG Hermes, in cooperation with the Saudi Tadawul, in the presence of 375 guests, including representatives from more than 50 Saudi companies from various vital sectors, the Saudi Capital Market Authority, and the Public Investment Fund, in addition to 200 investors from more than 120 international financial institutions, and a group of the most prominent fund managers around the world.

Among the guests are the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Capital Market Authority, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Kuwaiz, the CEO of Saudi Tadawul, Mohammed Al-Rumaih, the CEO of EFG Holding Group, Karim Awad, the co-CEO of EFG Hermes, Mohammed Ebeid, and the CEO For EFG Hermes in Saudi Arabia, Saud Altassan.

Al-Kuwaiz and Al-Rumaih spoke in two successive sessions about the importance of the Saudi financial market and the developments it has achieved at all levels.

The speakers stressed that Saudi Arabia had one of the largest emerging markets in terms of market capitalization, as its market value exceeded $3 trillion in September 2023.

They added that the Saudi financial market has attracted increasing foreign inflows since its inclusion in the main global indices, such as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index during 2019, and the FTSE Russell Emerging Markets Index during 2018.

For his part, Ebeid explained that the conference serves as a platform to showcase investment opportunities in the Saudi market, which is supported by the diversity of economic sectors, as well as the transformation initiatives launched by the government within the framework of Vision 2030.

The conference offers a unique opportunity to strengthen ties and provide a direct link between companies listed on the Saudi market and investors in emerging markets, which reflects the major role that EFG Hermes plays in supporting economic growth in the Kingdom and developing the capital market, he added.

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IMF Sees Steady Global Growth

FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
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IMF Sees Steady Global Growth

FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
FILED - 24 October 2024, US, Washington: The logo of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seen on the facade of the conference building on Pennsylvania Street. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa

The International Monetary Fund expects the world economy to grow a little faster and inflation to keep falling this year. But it warned that the outlook is clouded by President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to slash US taxes, impose tariffs on foreign goods, ease regulations on businesses and deport millions of immigrants working illegally in the United States.

The Washington-based lending agency expects the world economy to grow 3.3% this year and next, up from 3.2% in 2024. The growth is steady but unimpressive: From 2000 to 2019, the world economy grew faster – an average of 3.7% a year. The sluggish growth reflects the lingering effects of big global shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The IMF is a 191-nation lending organization that works to promote economic growth and financial stability and to reduce global poverty.

Global inflation, which had surged after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains and caused shortages and higher prices, is forecast to fall from 5.7% in 2024 to 4.2% this year and 3.5% in 2026.

But in a blog post that accompanied the release of the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook report, the fund’s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, wrote that the policies Trump has promised to introduce “are likely to push inflation higher in the near term,” The Associated Press reported.

Big tax cuts could overheat the US economy and inflation. Likewise, hefty tariffs on foreign products could at least temporarily push up prices and hurt exporting countries around the world. And mass deportations could cause restaurants, construction companies and other businesses to run short of workers, pushing up their costs and weighing on economic growth.

Gourinchas also wrote that Trump’s plans to slash regulations on business could “boost potential growth in the medium term if they remove red tape and stimulate innovation.’’ But he warned that “excessive deregulation could also weaken financial safeguards and increase financial vulnerabilities, putting the US economy on a dangerous boom-bust path.’’

Trump inherits a strong US economy. The IMF expects US growth to come in at 2.7% this year, a hefty half percentage point upgrade from the 2.2% it had forecast in October.

The American economy — the world's biggest — is proving resilient in the face of high interest rates, engineered by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation. The US is benefiting from a strong job market that gives consumers the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep spending, from strong gains in productivity and from an influx of immigrants that has eased labor shortages.

The US economy’s unexpectedly strong performance stands in sharp contrast to the advanced economies across the Atlantic Ocean. The IMF expects the 20 countries that share the euro currency to collectively grow just 1% this year, up from 0.8% in 2024 but down from the 1.2% it was expecting in October. “Headwinds,” Gourinchas wrote, “include weak momentum, especially in manufacturing, low consumer confidence, and the persistence of a negative energy price shock’’ caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese economy, No. 2 in the world, is forecast to decelerate – from 4.8% last year to 4.6% in 2025 and 4.5% in 2026. A collapse in the Chinese housing market has undermined consumer confidence. If government doesn’t do enough to stimulate the economy with lower interest rates, stepped-up spending or tax cuts, China “is at risk of a debt-deflation stagnation trap,’’ Gourinchas warned, in which falling prices discourage consumers from spending (because they have an incentive to wait to get still better bargains) and make it more expensive for borrowers to repay loans.

The IMF forecasts came out a day after its sister agency, the World Bank, predicted global growth of 2.7% in 2025 and 2026, same as last year and 2023.

The bank, which makes loans and grants to poor countries, warned that the growth wasn’t sufficient to reduce poverty in low-income countries. The IMF’s global growth estimates tend to be higher than the World Bank’s because they give more weight to faster-growing developing countries.