Saudi Arabia: Competition Law Aims to Combat Monopolistic Practices

Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)
Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)
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Saudi Arabia: Competition Law Aims to Combat Monopolistic Practices

Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)
Women shop at a mall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Getty Images)

The regulations of the Saudi Competition Law have revealed that it aims to protect and promote fair competition and combat monopolistic practices that affect legal competition and the consumer’s interest.

The regulations guarantee that the services and goods' prices conform to the market rules and free competition concepts.

The law bans the practices – including agreements and deals between establishments – whether written or oral, if the purpose behind them is to harm competition, especially in terms of determining prices of goods, services fees, conditions of selling and purchasing, limiting the inflow of services and products, etc.

The law also forbids any attitude that hinders the entry of an establishment into the market, pushes an establishment out of the market, blocks available products or services wholly or partially from a specific establishment. It also prevents dividing markets for the sake of selling or buying services and products.

Article six of the law includes prohibiting any establishment that dominates the market or part of it from abusing its power to breach or limit competition.

The law bars setting conditions on an establishment to abstain from dealing with another and suspend the selling of a service or product in return for an obligation or services that are not related to the original contract.

The law called on establishments wishing to join the economic concentration to notify the General Authority for Competition at least 90 days before completion in case the annual sales of the establishment surpasses a limit specified by the list.



Türkiye's Recent Political Events Hit Economy, Reserves, Says EBRD 

Owners of a "bufe", a Turkish word to call small corner restaurants with a couple of stools outside or inside, wait for customers at Uskudar neighborhood in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Owners of a "bufe", a Turkish word to call small corner restaurants with a couple of stools outside or inside, wait for customers at Uskudar neighborhood in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Türkiye's Recent Political Events Hit Economy, Reserves, Says EBRD 

Owners of a "bufe", a Turkish word to call small corner restaurants with a couple of stools outside or inside, wait for customers at Uskudar neighborhood in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Owners of a "bufe", a Turkish word to call small corner restaurants with a couple of stools outside or inside, wait for customers at Uskudar neighborhood in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Recent political events in Türkiye stymied the country's path to slowing inflation and the fallout affected the economy as well as foreign exchange reserves, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's chief economist said.

The detention of Istanbul mayor and main opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu on March 19 sent the lira sharply lower and triggered market turmoil that pushed the central bank into a surprise interest rate hike in April, short circuiting an easing cycle that began at the start of the year.

Türkiye had been on a "slow but steady" path towards reducing inflation before the event, EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik told Reuters.

"This path allowed it to cut interest rates, but that process was stopped by the recent political events, which brought turbulence and forced the central bank to reverse the direction," Javorcik said, adding raising interest rates put the brakes on the economy.

"This is costly in terms of economic performance, in terms of reserves ... and in terms of the reputational implications, undermining confidence of investors."

Türkiye has struggled with very high inflation in recent years, which peaked at 75% last May.

The bank downgraded its forecast for Türkiye’s economic growth this year by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8%, due to lower domestic and external demand and tighter-than-expected monetary policy.

Türkiye’s bonds and stock market had become a big draw for global money managers in the months leading up to Imamoglu's detention.

The appointment of Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek in 2023, widely seen as the architect of the government's return to a more orthodox economic policy, helped lure investors.

The EBRD said Türkiye’s central bank sold more than $40 billion in foreign exchange in the weeks following Imamoglu's arrest, pulling net reserves, excluding swaps, from more than $60 billion to less than $20 billion.

The latest reserve numbers, published on Monday, showed that Türkiye’s gross reserves had risen by $6 billion - the first such gain in nearly two months.