Assets of Saudi Public, Private Investment Funds Amount to $86.1 Bn

Assets of Saudi Public, Private Investment Funds Amount to $86.1 Bn
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Assets of Saudi Public, Private Investment Funds Amount to $86.1 Bn

Assets of Saudi Public, Private Investment Funds Amount to $86.1 Bn

The value of public and private assets of investment funds in Saudi Arabia registered a new leap during Q2 2019, amounting to SAR323 billion ($86.1 billion), compared to SAR310 billion ($82.6 billion) in Q1 of the same year.

According to Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the value of public and private funds’ assets jumped by 4.1 percent in the Q2 2019 while the value of the private investment funds’ assets grew by 3.5 percent, and the value of public fund assets grew by 5.3 percent.

The value of the assets of private investment funds amounted to SAR196.9 billion ($52.5 billion) at the end of Q2 2019 compared with SAR190.1 billion ($50.6 billion dollars) in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the value of assets of public investment funds amounted to SAR126.1 billion ($33.6 billion) by the end of Q2 2019 compared with SAR119.7 billion ($31.9 billion) in Q1 2019.

According to the CMA, the investment fund includes a set of securities that are selected according to specific criteria that meet the objectives of the investment funds, including the public and special funds.

Profits of the investment funds come usually from capital gains, which are the profits resulting from the improvement or change in the prices of the securities invested in addition to dividend profits, if any, for securities.

In this context, foreign investments by non-founders in the Saudi stock market rose to 5.1 percent of the total market last week compared to 5.03 percent at the end of the previous week.

This rise is due to net purchases amounting to SAR712.7 million ($190 million) made last week.

Therefore, non-founder foreign investors' ownership in the Saudi stock market has continued to record all-time highs. This ownership includes swap agreements, eligible and residing investors and excludes the founders’ strategic shares.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.