'S&P' Raises Saudi Arabia's Credit Rating to A/A-1 with Stable Outlook

The agency forecasts the non-oil sector to remain strong through 2026 (File/AP)
The agency forecasts the non-oil sector to remain strong through 2026 (File/AP)
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'S&P' Raises Saudi Arabia's Credit Rating to A/A-1 with Stable Outlook

The agency forecasts the non-oil sector to remain strong through 2026 (File/AP)
The agency forecasts the non-oil sector to remain strong through 2026 (File/AP)

The world credit rating agency ”S&P Global Rating” updated its credit report for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia raising its long and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings to 'A/A-1' with Stable Outlook.

The agency indicated in its report that this rating upgrade is a result of the Kingdom's significant reforms efforts in recent years and its realization of structural improvements that contributed to supporting a sustained development of the non-oil sector, in addition to improving public finance management and maintaining balanced public debt level.

The agency highlighted the strong real GDP growth of 8.7% in 2022, the highest among the G-20 economies. It expects moderate economic growth, averaging 2.6% in 2023-2026 with GDP/capita averaging $31,500 (significantly above pre-pandemic levels).

The agency forecasts the non-oil sector to remain strong through 2026 due to service sector growth supported by the significant ongoing social reforms and female workforce participation. It also expected the continuity of fiscal surpluses through 2024 (after reaching 2.5% of GDP in 2022).

The report indicated that inflation in the Kingdom is relatively low compared to its peers. It expected that it will remain under control thanks to the government efforts in subsidizing fuel and food, as well as the currency peg to the relatively strong US dollar.



Gold Falls to One-week Low as Dollar Firms after Tariff Deadline Extension

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
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Gold Falls to One-week Low as Dollar Firms after Tariff Deadline Extension

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices retreated to a one-week low on Monday as the dollar firmed and traders digested US President Donald Trump's extension of his July 9 tariff deadline to August 1 and assertion that the US is close to several trade deals.

Spot gold was down 0.8% at $3,307.87 an ounce at 1302 GMT after hitting its lowest since June 30 at $3,296.09. US gold futures lost 0.7% to $3,318.

The stronger dollar, up 0.2% against a basket of other major currencies, makes dollar-priced gold more expensive for buyers with other currencies, Reuters reported.

"The market volumes remain quiet at this moment, and price action is probably still just reflecting the latest piece of economic data, but also starting to look forward to the potential for trade deals to be announced," said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

Last week's stronger than expected US payroll data cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates as early as previously expected.

Minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting and speeches by several Fed officials are due this week for further insights into the central bank's policy path.

Elsewhere, China's central bank added gold to its reserves in June for an eighth consecutive month, official data from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) showed on Monday.

"The PBoC in particular has been diversifying foreign exchange reserves substantially and an uptick in uncertainty and geopolitical risk may speed up the process," said Zain Vawda, analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA.

In other precious metals, spot silver fell 1.6% to $36.32 an ounce, platinum shed 2.9% to $1,350.97 and palladium lost 3% to $1,100.65.