Saudi Arabia Launches $1b Real Estate Funds to Provide Thousands of Homes

The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Launches $1b Real Estate Funds to Provide Thousands of Homes

The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing Majid Al Hogail inaugurated Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition 2023 on March 7.

The exhibition, being held at Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center, will continue until March 10.

Several senior officials from government agencies, financing agencies and real estate development companies are expected to attend.

During the opening ceremony, Al Hogail witnessed the launch of real estate funds with a total value of more than SAR 4 billion ($1 billion), according to a press release.

The funds aim to provide more than 4,000 housing units in Riyadh and Madinah on an area of over one million square meters (sqm).

The exhibition enjoys wide participation from real estate development and marketing companies, financing agencies, Saudi banks and institutions specialized in housing and real estate affairs in the public and private sectors, which provide unique housing and financing solutions that suit various Saudi families and meets with the Vision 2030.

In this edition, Restatex will include eight dialogue sessions mainly focusing on the real estate industry and the role of the public and private sectors, sustainability and quality of life in the real estate sector, urban development and Saudi innovation, digital transformation in the real estate sector, affordable housing, real estate brokerage, housing projects challenges and solutions, and a success story by balancing quality and price.

In other news, Al Hogail inaugurated a technical link between the “Tatweer Program” of the Real Estate Development Fund and the Real Estate Developers Services Center “Etmam.”

The link comes with the aim of strengthening the complementary partnership between the Tatweer Program and Etmam.

This will contribute to automating and speeding up the submission of applications and achieving the goals of the national housing program, which focuses on raising the proportion of Saudi families owning their homes to 70 % by the end of 2030.



Oil Steady but on Track for Weekly Drop on Firmer Supply Outlook

FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo
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Oil Steady but on Track for Weekly Drop on Firmer Supply Outlook

FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo

Oil prices held steady on Friday but remained on track for a weekly fall as investors weighed expectations for increased output from Libya and the broader OPEC+ group against fresh stimulus from top importer China.

Brent crude futures were up 8 cents, or 0.1%, at $71.68 per barrel as of 1130 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $67.78.

On a weekly basis, Brent was down almost 4%, while WTI was on track to lose nearly 6%, Reuters reported.

China's central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system, aiming to pull economic growth back towards this year's target of roughly 5%.

More fiscal measures are expected to be announced before Chinese holidays starting on Oct. 1 after a meeting of the Communist Party's top leaders showed an increased sense of urgency about mounting economic headwinds.

Meanwhile, rival factions staking claims for control of the Central Bank of Libya signed an agreement to end their dispute on Thursday. The dispute had seen crude exports fall to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month from more than 1 million last month.