Saudi EXIM Bank Gets Organizationally Linked to National Development Fund

 EXIM Bank seeks to improve the efficiency of the export environment. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
EXIM Bank seeks to improve the efficiency of the export environment. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Saudi EXIM Bank Gets Organizationally Linked to National Development Fund

 EXIM Bank seeks to improve the efficiency of the export environment. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
EXIM Bank seeks to improve the efficiency of the export environment. (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Official information revealed that a higher approval was issued for the Saudi Export-Import Bank (EXIM) to be linked organizationally with the National Development Fund, after the fund’s board of directors adopted the decision earlier this year.

Information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat revealed that the Council of Economic and Development Affairs reported that the Committee of Experts in the Saudi Council of Ministers studied the matter in coordination with representatives from both sides, and approved the bank’s organizational linking with the fund.

Last year, the Council of Ministers approved the association of the Saudi Export-Import Bank with the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, provided that the bank, within six months of assuming its duties, study the suitability of its connection with the National Development Fund, present the results of the study and complete the required measures accordingly.

EXIM Bank provides financial and other assistance to importers and exporters of the Kingdom and coordinates with other institutions that work in the import-export sector.

The bank seeks to improve the efficiency of the export environment and export supporting services, increase the knowledge of export practice and develop the relevant human capital, increase the visibility of Saudi offerings in target markets and to potential buyers and facilitate business matching between exporters and potential buyers and partners.

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef said that the Saudi Export-Import Bank was an important tributary that supports exporters and importers by providing credit solutions that contribute to accelerating and facilitating export operations in the private sector and overcoming the obstacles facing this important activity, with the aim of increasing the impact the economy of non-oil exports in the gross domestic product.



Gold Set for Weekly Drop; Traders Await US Inflation Data

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Gold Set for Weekly Drop; Traders Await US Inflation Data

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Gold prices rose on Friday, but were set for a weekly decline after the Federal Reserve signalled a slowdown in rate cuts next year, while focus shifted to a key US inflation print due later in the day.
Spot gold was up 0.5% at $2,606.19 per ounce, as of 0821 GMT, but has lost about 1.5% so far this week.
US gold futures was 0.5% higher at $2,620.60, Reuters said.
Gold is consolidating as "investors await Trump to resume office next year and the Fed will also go meeting by meeting, considering the data development and seeing what is part of Trump's trade policy," said Soni Kumari, a commodity strategist at ANZ.
Investors now await the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, for further clues on the US economic outlook.
The Fed cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, but the cautious note struck in its economic projections and expected slowdown of rate cuts pushed gold to its lowest level since Nov. 18.
Data showed on Thursday that the US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, while jobless claims also slipped more than anticipated, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will take a cautious approach to policy easing.
A slightly more hawkish set of the Fed's regional bank presidents will become voters on its rate-setting panel in 2025, raising the chance that any further rate cuts next year could spur more dissents like the one seen from the head of the Cleveland Fed.
Higher rates dull the appeal of the non-yielding asset.
According to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao, spot gold may retest support at $2,582 per ounce.
Spot silver gained 0.1% to $29.06 per ounce but was headed for its worst week since April.
Platinum dropped 0.2% at $921.50 and palladium rose 0.5% to $910.63. Both the metals were poised for weekly losses.