Saudi PIF Completes $7 bln Inaugural Murabaha Credit Facility

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
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Saudi PIF Completes $7 bln Inaugural Murabaha Credit Facility

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed on Monday a $7 billion inaugural murabaha credit facility.
In a statement, PIF said the credit facility is supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions.
PIF head of the Global Capital Finance Division and head of Investment Strategy and Economic Insights Division Fahad AlSaif said: “This inaugural murabaha credit facility demonstrates the flexibility and depth of PIF’s financing strategy and use of diversified funding sources, as we continue to drive transformative investments, globally and in Saudi Arabia”, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
This financing complements PIF’s successful sukuk issuances over the past two years, the statement added. It also underpins PIF’s strong financial position, as well as its best-practice approach to debt financing.
PIF is rated Aa3 by Moody’s with stable outlook and A+ by Fitch with stable outlook. PIF has four main sources of funding: capital injections from government, government asset transfers, retained earnings from investments, and loans and debt instruments.



Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions

Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions
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Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions

Oil Prices Rise as Concerns Grow over Supply Disruptions

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday reversing earlier declines, as fears of tighter Russian and Iranian supply due to escalating Western sanctions lent support.

Brent futures were up 61 cents, or 0.80%, to $76.91 a barrel at 1119 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 46 cents, or 0.63%, to $74.02.

It seems market participants have started to price in some small supply disruption risks on Iranian crude exports to China, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

In China, Shandong Port Group issued a notice on Monday banning US sanctioned oil vessels from its network of ports, according to three traders, potentially restricting blacklisted vessels from major energy terminals on China's east coast.

Shandong Port Group oversees major ports on China's east coast, including Qingdao, Rizhao and Yantai, which are major terminals for importing sanctioned oil.

Meanwhile, cold weather in the US and Europe has boosted heating oil demand, providing further support for prices.

However, oil price gains were capped by global economic data.

Euro zone inflation

accelerated

in December, an unwelcome but anticipated blip that is unlikely to derail further interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank.

"Higher inflation in Germany raised suggestions that the ECB may not be able to cut rates as fast as hoped across the Eurozone, while US manufactured good orders fell in November," Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum said.

Technical indicators for oil futures are now in overbought territory, and sellers are keen to step in once again to take advantage of the strength, tempering additional price advances, said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.

Market participants are waiting for more data this week, such as the US December non-farm payrolls report on Friday, for clues on US interest rate policy and the oil demand outlook.