79 Saudi Govt. Bodies to Be Included in Finance Ministry’s Planned Treasury

The Saudi Ministry of Finance is planning to include 79 entities in the treasury in 2021. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Finance is planning to include 79 entities in the treasury in 2021. (SPA)
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79 Saudi Govt. Bodies to Be Included in Finance Ministry’s Planned Treasury

The Saudi Ministry of Finance is planning to include 79 entities in the treasury in 2021. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Finance is planning to include 79 entities in the treasury in 2021. (SPA)

The Saudi Ministry of Finance is planning to include 79 entities in the treasury in 2021, as officials finalize the last phase of establishing the independent unit at the ministry.

The treasury management project stems from the Fiscal Balance Program, one of the executive programs aimed at achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The project seeks to improve cash and liquidity management through consolidating all revenues, centralizing all expenditures and establishing an efficient structure for financing expenditures.

It will seek to avoid the accumulation of unused cash balances in the bank accounts of government agencies that do not earn any return.

This will ensure effective cash management to facilitate the fiscal planning process, efficiency of financing and improve future visibility, as well as enhance the transparency of government fiscal resources.

The ministry will improve and develop the technical system and make use of artificial intelligence in business development on the medium-term. In addition, it will complete the Treasury Single Account (TSA) initiative after applying the unified account concept to all government agencies.

The account will help increase the effectiveness of controlling government resources, maximizing non-oil revenue sources and reducing the cost of borrowing, in addition to increasing returns on money invested.

This will be enhanced through the effective use of surplus and unused cash balances, support to simplify business and the movement of cash between accounts, monitoring of revenues, ease of setting and achieving goals and speeding up payment processing, expenditures and decision-making processes.

In addition, the Ministry seeks to activate the role of Transformation Partners in 2021 and enable them to follow up and implement the initiatives related to the transformation at the government agencies.

The work will extend beyond 2020 and in the medium-term, for three years.

Initiatives related to the transition at the level of government agencies and the MoF will also continue in order to build the financial position of the Kingdom and then the consolidated fiscal statements in December 2023.

Meanwhile, the Supervisory and Compliance Department will be made functional in 2021. It is responsible for evaluating regulatory frameworks and activating control self-assessment in government agencies.

It will also initiate the Central Control Department responsible for evaluating systems with a financial impact and analyzing their data.



Gold Jumps, on Track for Best Week in Over a Year on Safe-haven Demand

FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
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Gold Jumps, on Track for Best Week in Over a Year on Safe-haven Demand

FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Gold bullions are displayed at GoldSilver Central's office in Singapore June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

Gold prices rose over 1% to hit a two-week peak on Friday, heading for the best weekly performance in more than a year, buoyed by safe-haven demand as Russia-Ukraine tensions intensified.

Spot gold jumped 1.3% to $2,703.05 per ounce as of 1245 GMT, hitting its highest since Nov. 8. US gold futures gained 1.1% to $2,705.30.

Bullion rose despite the US dollar hitting a 13-month high, while bitcoin hit a record peak and neared the $100,000 level.

"With both gold and USD (US dollar) rising, it seems that safe-haven demand is lifting both assets," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Ukraine's military said its drones struck four oil refineries, radar stations and other military installations in Russia, Reuters reported.

Gold has gained over 5% so far this week, its best weekly performance since October 2023. Prices have gained around $173 after slipping to a two-month low last week.

"We understand that the price setback has been used by 'Western world' investors under-allocated to gold to build exposure considering the geopolitical risks that are still around. So we continue to expect gold to rise further over the coming months," Staunovo said.

Bullion tends to shine during geopolitical tensions, economic risks, and a low interest rate environment. Markets are pricing in a 59.4% chance of a 25-basis-points cut at the Fed's December meeting, per the CME Fedwatch tool.

However, "if Fed skips or pauses its rate cut in December, that will be negative for gold prices and we could see some pullback," said Soni Kumari, a commodity strategist at ANZ.

The Chicago Federal Reserve president reiterated his support for further US interest rate cuts on Thursday.

On Friday, spot silver rose 1.8% to $31.34 per ounce, platinum eased 0.1% to $960.13 and palladium fell 0.6% to $1,023.55. All three metals were on track for a weekly rise.