Saudi PIF Nearly Triples Holdings in US Market

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

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.



World Bank Redirects Funds Towards Lebanon Emergency Aid

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
TT

World Bank Redirects Funds Towards Lebanon Emergency Aid

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The World Bank announced on Thursday that it was redirecting funds originally earmarked for development programs in Lebanon towards emergency aid for people displaced by Israeli bombardment of the country.

"The World Bank is activating emergency response plans to be able to repurpose resources in the portfolio to respond to the urgent needs of people in Lebanon," said a statement from the US-based multilateral institution.

The multilateral institution currently has $1.5 billion in funding for programs in Lebanon. Part of this amount will be redirected.

Since September 23, more than 1,000 people have been killed in an Israeli air-and-ground campaign on Lebanon that has targeted armed group Hezbollah in the south and east of the country, with strikes expanding to include the capital Beirut.

Thousands have been displaced since the bombing began, and the funds would be used to provide aid to those populations, the World Bank said.

"This would include emergency support to displaced people that could be deployed through a digital platform the World Bank helped put in place during the Covid epidemic," the statement said.