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Saudi Arabia's PIF Invests $1.3 Billion in 4 Local Construction Firms

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has invested a total of $1.3 billion in four local construction firms.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has invested a total of $1.3 billion in four local construction firms.
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Saudi Arabia's PIF Invests $1.3 Billion in 4 Local Construction Firms

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has invested a total of $1.3 billion in four local construction firms.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has invested a total of $1.3 billion in four local construction firms.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has invested a total of $1.3 billion in four local construction firms to support the sector tasked with spearheading projects across the Kingdom, it said on Tuesday.

The Public Investment Fund said it acquired new shares as part of capital increases representing significant minority stakes in Nesma & Partners Contracting Company, ElSeif Engineering Contracting Company, AlBawani Holding Company and Almabani General Contractors Company.

"These partnerships demonstrate PIF’s commitment to unlock the capabilities of key strategic sectors in Saudi Arabia," PIF's deputy governor Yazeed Al-Humied said in a statement.

PIF's investment "will support local capacity expansion across the sector and stimulate private sector participation and investment to meet current and future demand," Al-Humied was quoted as saying.

The fund acquired a controlling stake in interior design and specialty contracting firm Depa in March 2022, paying 150 million dirhams ($40.84 million) for 750 million new shares.

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Türkiye's Central Bank Lowers Key Interest Rate to 47.5%

A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Türkiye's Central Bank Lowers Key Interest Rate to 47.5%

A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Türkiye’s central bank lowered its key interest rate by 2.5 percentage points to 47.5% on Thursday, carrying out its first rate cut in nearly two years as it tries to control soaring inflation.
Citing slowing inflation, the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said it was reducing its one-week repo rate to 47.5% from the current 50%.
The committee said in a statement that the overall inflation trend was “flat” in November and that indicators suggest it is likely to decline in December, The Associated Press reported.

Demand within the country was slowing, helping to reduce inflation, it said.
Inflation in Türkiye surged in recent years due to declining foreign reserves and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unconventional economic policy of lowering rates as a way to tame inflation — which he later abandoned.
Inflation stood at 47% in November, after having peaked at 85% in late 2022, although independent economists say the real rate is much higher than the official figures.

Most economists argue that higher interest rates help control inflation, but the Turkish leader had fired central bank governors for failing to fall in line with his previous rate-cutting policies.

Following a return to more conventional policies under a new economic team, the central bank raised interest rates from 8.5% to 50% between May 2023 and March 2024. The bank had kept rates steady at 50% until Thursday's rate cut.
The high inflation has left many households struggling to afford basic goods, such as food and housing.