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Saudi Arabia Permits 9 FinTech Companies to Operate in Regulatory Sandbox

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority allows nine more FinTech companies to operate in the Regulatory Sandbox.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority allows nine more FinTech companies to operate in the Regulatory Sandbox.
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Saudi Arabia Permits 9 FinTech Companies to Operate in Regulatory Sandbox

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority allows nine more FinTech companies to operate in the Regulatory Sandbox.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority allows nine more FinTech companies to operate in the Regulatory Sandbox.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) announced that it has permitted nine more FinTech companies to operate in the Regulatory Sandbox, raising the total to 30.

The new batch serves SAMA's effort to promote the digitization of financial services and drive towards digital transformation in the financial sector in line with the requirements and objectives of the Financial Sector Development Program, one of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 programs.

SAMA stated that it received up to 103 requests, and approved the innovative solutions which fulfilled the eligibility criteria in accordance with the published Regulatory Sandbox Framework. Applications related to payments, financing and insurance are eligible to apply to obtain the license directly and comply with the recently issued rules and regulations.

The new batch of services and products approved in SAMA's Regulatory Sandbox included Electronic Saving Societies Platforms for individuals and a new batch of Crowdfunding Platforms for SMEs and Entrepreneurs.

This stems from its responsibilities to raise financial awareness among all community segments, support the development of the national economy and diversification of its income sources, and incentivize savings, financing and investment.

This step helps achieve a number of strategic objectives, such as enhancing financial planning and raising the savings percentage in Saudi Arabia, which would be positively reflected on the quality of life of individuals and households, as well as the resilience of the economy in general.

Other objectives include supporting programs and projects to raise the spirit of initiative and innovation, in addition to developing and supporting the SMEs sector to build a competitive economic system that ensures the sector's sustainability, prosperity and higher contribution to the national GDP.

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Expert: Türkiye Anti-inflation Steps Don’t Go Far Enough

People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
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Expert: Türkiye Anti-inflation Steps Don’t Go Far Enough

People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters

Although Turkish inflation slowed in September, it is still raging out of control with the government avoiding difficult decisions that could help tackle it, experts told AFP.

Türkiye has experienced spiraling inflation the past two years, peaking at an annual rate of 85.5 percent in October 2022 and 75.45 percent in May.

The government claims it slowed to 49.4 percent in September.

But the figures are disputed by the ENAG group of independent economists who estimate that year-on-year inflation stood at 88.6 percent in September.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said Ankara was hoping to bring inflation down to 17.6 percent by the end of 2025 and to “single digits” by 2026.

And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hailed Türkiye’s success in “starting the process of permanent disinflation.”

“The hard times are behind us,” he said.

But economists interviewed by AFP said the surge in consumer prices in Türkiye had become “chronic” and is being exacerbated by some government policies.

“The current drop is simply due to a base effect. The price rises over the course of a month is still high, at 2.97 percent across Türkiye and 3.9 percent in Istanbul.

“You can’t call this a success story,” said Mehmet Sisman, economics professor at Istanbul’s Marmara University.

Spurning conventional economic practice of raising interest rates to curb inflation, Erdogan has long defended a policy of lowering rates. That has sent the lira sliding, further fueling inflation.

But after his reelection in May 2023, he gave Türkiye’s Central Bank free rein to raise its main interest rate from 8.5 to 50 percent between June 2023 and March 2024.

The central bank’s rate remained unchanged in September for the sixth consecutive month.

“The fight against inflation revolves around the priorities of the financial sector. As a result, it is done indirectly and generates uncertainty,” explained Erinc Yeldan, economics professor at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

But raising interest rates alone is not enough to steady inflation without addressing massive budget deficits, according to Yakup Kucukkale, an economics professor at Karadeniz Technical University.

He pointed to Türkiye’s record budget deficit of 129.6 billion lira (3.45 billion euros).

“Simsek says this is due to expenditure linked to the reconstruction in regions hit by the February 2023 earthquake,” he said of the disaster that killed more than 53,000 people.

“But the real black hole is due to the costly public-private partnership contracts,” he said, referring to infrastructure contracts which critics say are often awarded to firms close to Erdogan’s government.

Such contracts cover construction and management of everything from motorways and bridges to hospitals and airports, and are often accompanied by generous guarantees such as state compensation in the event they are underused.

“We should question these contracts, which are a burden on the budget because this compensation is indexed to the dollar or the euro,” said Kucukkale.

Anti-inflation measures also tend to impact low-income households at a time when the minimum wage hasn’t been raised since January, he said.

“But these people already have little purchasing power. To lower demand, such measures must target higher-income groups, but there is hardly anything affecting them,” he said.