Energy, Metal Companies Eyeing Public Offering in Saudi Arabia 

The Future Minerals Forum ended its work in Riyadh with the signing of more than 60 agreements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Future Minerals Forum ended its work in Riyadh with the signing of more than 60 agreements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Energy, Metal Companies Eyeing Public Offering in Saudi Arabia 

The Future Minerals Forum ended its work in Riyadh with the signing of more than 60 agreements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Future Minerals Forum ended its work in Riyadh with the signing of more than 60 agreements. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Energy and mineral companies expressed intentions to expand and move towards public offering and listing in the financial market as the Future Minerals Forum concluded in Riyadh on Thursday, with the signing of 60 agreements and MoUs.  

The event was held with the participation of 200 speakers and more than 12,000 participants, including investment leaders, heads of major mining companies, experts, service providers, and manufacturers from 130 countries. 

The conference witnessed the signing of 60 agreements and MoUs in the field of mining and minerals industry between a number of participating government agencies, companies and institutions.  

They included agreements in mineral exploration, technology, communications, application of sustainability standards, localization and qualification, and industrialization in the mining sector.  

The event also saw an announcement by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and the Arab Mining Company (Maaden) to establish a joint virtual center for research and development in mining technologies.  

The virtual center will be located within KACST’s headquarters, and will work to identify the areas required to implement joint research in mining technologies.  

Meanwhile, Bloomberg agency quoted sources as saying that Petromin - a global Saudi company specialized in the manufacture and production of oils, fuel provision and automotive services - plans to revive plans for its initial public offering in the Kingdom.  

Quoting sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the agency revealed that the company was working with Saudi National Bank and Moelis & Co. on the planned offering. Details of the deal, such as its size and timing, may change, according to the sources, who noted that more banks might also be added to the syndicate. 

Khalid Al-Jahdali, CEO of Al Haytham Mining Company, revealed that the company was planning an imminent offering in the Saudi financial market, explaining that it was awaiting the completion of a relevant study by the financial advisor. 



Israeli Cabinet Approves 2025 State Budget with Spending Cuts to Pay for Ongoing War

A usually crowded beach in Tel Aviv is nearly deserted on August 25, 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A usually crowded beach in Tel Aviv is nearly deserted on August 25, 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israeli Cabinet Approves 2025 State Budget with Spending Cuts to Pay for Ongoing War

A usually crowded beach in Tel Aviv is nearly deserted on August 25, 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A usually crowded beach in Tel Aviv is nearly deserted on August 25, 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

The Israeli cabinet approved a long-delayed wartime budget package on Friday that includes a raft of tax increases and spending cuts to pay for a war that has entered its second year with no immediate end in sight.

Israel has had to boost military spending by billions of shekels to accommodate the cost of a war that has resulted in thousands of troops deployed in Gaza and Lebanon, while much of the economy has slowed drastically due to a lack of workers. This week, the finance ministry cut the 2024 growth outlook for the second time this year to just 0.4% from an earlier estimate of 1.1%.

The cost of fighting and the absence of tens of thousands of reservists serving at the front, along with the exclusion of thousands of Palestinian workers from Israel for security reasons, have weighed heavily on the main pillars of the economy including tech, construction and agriculture.

"The main goal in the 2025 budget is maintaining the security of the state and achieving victory on all fronts, while maintaining the resilience of the Israeli economy," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement.

In all, the budget includes a roughly 40-billion-shekel package of tax hikes and spending cuts to try to rein in a budget deficit now running at 8.5% of GDP.

Overall spending was set at 744 billion shekels ($199.23 billion), of which 161 billion will go towards debt servicing.

All three of the main credit-rating agencies have cut their ratings on Israel this year on worries that the war could continue well into next year.

Among the measures likely to bite hardest on Israeli households, value-added tax will rise in 2025 to 18% from 17%. In addition, there will be spending cuts across most ministries.

The package will have to go to parliament for approval, which Smotrich said was expected by January. Failure to approve the budget by the end of March would trigger new elections.