Saudi PIF Nearly Triples Holdings in US Market

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
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Saudi PIF Nearly Triples Holdings in US Market

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, nearly tripled its holdings of US-listed stocks to $43.45 billion in Q3 2021, adding shares of Alibaba Group, Walmart and Pinterest.

Its US-listed stock holdings in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 increased from nearly $16 billion in the prior quarter, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, which added the PIF made 19 new investments.

A new five-year plan would make the fund the leading catalyst for Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation and diversification.

The Fund plans to double its assets to four trillion riyals ($1.07 trillion) by 2025. To boost domestic economy, it plans to inject at least 150 billion riyals annually in the local economy in the next four years.

The five-year strategy would see the fund creating 1.8 million direct and indirect jobs by 2025, from 331,000 by the end of by the third quarter of 2020.



Iraq, US Sign Preliminary Deal on Projects Including 24,000 MW of Power Plants

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives the American business delegation. (Iraqi government)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives the American business delegation. (Iraqi government)
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Iraq, US Sign Preliminary Deal on Projects Including 24,000 MW of Power Plants

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives the American business delegation. (Iraqi government)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives the American business delegation. (Iraqi government)

Iraq and the United States signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding for projects in the country, including 24,000 megawatts of power plants, the Iraqi prime minister's media office said.

Another MoU has been inked between Iraq's Ministry of Electricity and US company UGT Renewables to establish an integrated solar energy project with a capacity of 3,000 MW, the media office said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump's administration last month rescinded a sanctions waiver that since 2018 has allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity as Washington presses on with its "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran.

Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, uses Iranian power imports to generate electricity and has been under pressure from the US to reduce its reliance on power and gas imports from Iran.