Saudi Arabia Investigates First Stockpiling Attempt

Saudi Arabia Investigates First Stockpiling Attempt, Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia Investigates First Stockpiling Attempt, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia Investigates First Stockpiling Attempt

Saudi Arabia Investigates First Stockpiling Attempt, Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia Investigates First Stockpiling Attempt, Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi market regulators struck with an iron fist as they started investigating the first case of illegal stockpiling of medical preventative products and price hiking. Authorities have been conducting inspections to prevent market manipulation amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Ministry of Commerce and Investment and the General Authority for Competition revealed that they are investigating several market violations related to the coronavirus crisis. Among these violations was the stockpiling of sterilizers and protective face masks and an agreement among suppliers to hoard large quantities of products and sell them at a higher price later.

The ministry and authority reaffirmed that coordination of efforts to the protection of the consumer and preserve healthy market competition are ongoing.

In a statement, the two entities asked consumers to file complaints from the new online app created, “Balagh Tijari,” through relevant websites, or by calling the joint call center.

Oversight teams from the ministry continued to follow-up on the markets in all regions of the Kingdom.

On Monday, they conducted 8,000 inspection visits in Riyadh to verify the availability of goods and asses the stocks in markets and outlets.

They had received 12,000 reports and complaints in the Riyadh region that included the hiking of prices of products and other commercial irregularities. The violations were addressed swiftly with violators receiving the just penalties.

In other news, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), in cooperation with the concerned authorities, announced that all of the Kingdom’s airports will continue to work as usual in the reception of air freight cargo around the clock.

The measures taken by GACA include requiring all relevant authorities and air freight companies operating in the Kingdom's airports to comply with health and safety requirements and precautionary measures to combat the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

All the concerned departments have taken all the necessary precautions to sterilize and disinfect all the air cargo stations at the Kingdom's airports. Furthermore, medical checkpoints have been established in all stations for staff and visitors alike. This in addition to providing the working teams with all means of protection and prevention measures to ensure the flow of goods and services to all the Kingdom’s cities safely and securely.

GACA has called on all air cargo companies operating in the Kingdom's airports to implement the precautionary and preventive measures implemented at the Kingdom’s airports. This in addition to adhering to strict health guidelines followed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prevent the emergence of Covid-19.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."