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SWCC, WTTCO Eye $16 Bln Investment in Water Storage Systems in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Water Transmission and Technologies Co. (WTTCO) sign a deal on management services outsourcing. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Water Transmission and Technologies Co. (WTTCO) sign a deal on management services outsourcing. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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SWCC, WTTCO Eye $16 Bln Investment in Water Storage Systems in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Water Transmission and Technologies Co. (WTTCO) sign a deal on management services outsourcing. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Water Transmission and Technologies Co. (WTTCO) sign a deal on management services outsourcing. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Water Transmission and Technologies Co. (WTTCO) signed on Tuesday a cooperation agreement to outsource management services.

Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdurahman Al-Fadhli, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the SWCC, and governor of the SWCC Abdullah Al-Abdulkarim attended the signing ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Abdulkarim said the corporation will focus on six platforms that include a commitment to safety and sustainability in innovation and engineering development.

Abdullah Al Zowaid, SWCC Deputy Governor Operations and Maintenance, told Asharq Al-Awsat that upon the completion of projects, pumping capacity is expected to reach 17 million cubic meters daily.

The agreement calls for a smooth and gradual transition of the management, operation and maintenance of water transmission systems to the WTTCO, enabling it to sign contracts with partners and work on a commercial basis, it was announced in a press statement.

More so, the deal will boost the efficiency and organization of the water sector, as well as develop the Kingdom’s economy by adding more than SR60 billion ($16 billion) worth of investment opportunities in water transport and storage systems by involving the private sector in funding future projects.

Under the agreement, the SWCC will enable the WTTCO to use its transport systems to perform assigned services and allow the employees to participate in related decision making. In addition, the WTTCO will supervise the operation, maintenance and assignment of operations, and follow up on the progress of project implementation.

In 2021, the WTTCO will complete its commercial activities, through activating systems and operations, governance of procedures, preparing support services, as well as signing commercial deals, and taking delivery of operating assets.

Meanwhile, the company’s plan for 2022 includes improving and upgrading operational efficiency and slashing capital costs.

The Saudi Cabinet had agreed in September 2019 to establish the WTTCO as a state-owned company, which will take over assets from the SWCC and will lead the development of the Kingdom’s huge pipelines.

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Business

Bolivia Approves $1.9 Billion IMF Deal, Eliminates Diesel Subsidies

A person is counting dollars in La Paz, Bolivia, 10 July 2026. (EPA)
A person is counting dollars in La Paz, Bolivia, 10 July 2026. (EPA)
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Bolivia Approves $1.9 Billion IMF Deal, Eliminates Diesel Subsidies

A person is counting dollars in La Paz, Bolivia, 10 July 2026. (EPA)
A person is counting dollars in La Paz, Bolivia, 10 July 2026. (EPA)

Bolivian lawmakers approved a $1.9 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund on Friday, delivering the conservative government a key victory in its efforts to ease the country's deep economic crisis as unions threatened renewed protests.

Just hours after Congress approved the loan, President Rodrigo Paz announced an immediate end to subsidies for the diesel powering Bolivia’s trucks, buses and tractors — a step toward meeting IMF demands. Gasoline, used mainly in private cars, would remain subsidized for now, though Paz had already scaled back that support in recent months, The Associated Press said.

The Senate ratified the IMF agreement a day after the lower house approved it, clearing the final legislative hurdle for the three-year financing program aimed at replenishing dwindling foreign reserves and stabilizing the ailing economy marked by high inflation and weak growth. The IMF first announced the staff-level agreement in July after months of negotiations with Paz’s market-friendly government, which took power last year after nearly two decades of socialist rule as part of a wave of new Latin American leaders allied with the Trump administration.

The program still requires approval from the IMF’s executive board before funds can be disbursed. Economy Minister Christian Morales told senators that the deal would give other lenders, including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, greater confidence in the government and help it secure about $5 billion in additional financing.

But the assistance is conditioned on tough economic measures, including the elimination of fuel subsidies, that threaten to reignite unrest in Bolivia, where weeks of road blockades in June and July paralyzed much of the South American nation as demonstrators demanded Paz’s resignation. Congress on Thursday extended for another 90 days a state of emergency that Paz had declared to clear roads during the protests. It allows for military intervention and the suspension of some civil liberties.

The Bolivian Workers’ Central, the country’s main labor federation, and other unions have voiced fierce opposition to the IMF loan, warning that the government spending cuts required under the deal would drive up living costs and deepen hardship for struggling families.

Although Paz’s Christian Democratic Party lacks a majority in Congress, the centrist and right-wing lawmakers that dominate both chambers rallied behind the deal. The Movement Toward Socialism, the party that dominated Bolivian politics after the former coca growers’ union leader Evo Morales won the presidency in 2005, now holds just two of the 130 seats in the lower house and none in the 36-member Senate.

Declining natural gas exports have deprived Bolivia of dollars needed to import gasoline and diesel, contributing to chronic fuel shortages that began in 2023 and have persisted under Paz. The Iran war has pushed up global fuel costs, making fuel subsidies an even greater burden on public finances.

“No one can buy something expensive and sell it cheap,” Paz said in his late-night declaration that diesel in Bolivia would now be sold at international prices.

To cushion the blow, he announced about $79 million in cash assistance for 2.9 million Bolivians, along with loans on preferential terms for truckers, small businesses and producers facing higher diesel costs. He pledged to redirect subsidy spending toward schools, hospitals and roads.

Business

IMF Says Lebanon Economic Activity to Contract Sharply in 2026 as Conflict Weighs

FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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IMF Says Lebanon Economic Activity to Contract Sharply in 2026 as Conflict Weighs

FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that Lebanon's economic activity is expected to contract significantly in 2026 ‌as the ‌conflict in ‌the ⁠Middle East and broader ⁠regional security tensions continue to damage economic activity, infrastructure ⁠and living conditions, Reuters reported.

The ‌IMF ‌said inflation ‌remained in ‌the double digits and the country's current account deficit ‌had widened, largely due to higher ⁠energy ⁠costs, while infrastructure damage, internal displacement, and deteriorating living standards had added to economic pressures.

Business

Oil Prices Fall on Easing Fears Over Saudi Supply Disruption

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Oil Prices Fall on Easing Fears Over Saudi Supply Disruption

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 2, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Oil prices fell 2% on Friday, extending losses for a third straight session as easing concerns over Saudi supply disruptions outweighed anxiety about a widening of conflict across the Middle East.

Brent crude futures fell by $2.14, or 2%, to $102.68 a barrel by 0806 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate futures fell $1.83, or 1.8%, to $100.08, Reuters reported.

Benchmark Brent prices are on track for their first weekly loss in three.

Prices climbed to close to four-month highs earlier in the week after sources said crude loadings ⁠at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export hub of Yanbu had been suspended and Riyadh cancelled some deliveries to Europe after its East-West pipeline was damaged in an attack last week.

However, prices have cooled since on reports that Saudi Arabia was seeking to restore about half the capacity of its East-West oil pipeline within days.

Saudi Arabia has sold about 60 million barrels of crude from its Gulf port of Ras Tanura inside the Strait of Hormuz for loading via ship-to-ship transfer at the Omani port of Sohar this month and next, multiple trade sources said on Friday.

The rebound in Saudi Aramco's exports from inside the Gulf to between 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day on average, similar to or slightly higher than August's levels, has cooled global oil prices as it could make up for some of the ⁠volume lost at its port of Yanbu.

Chinese and South Korean refiners are among the top buyers of the spot supplies, while some volumes will be going to India and Japan, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Recent efforts ‌to restore Saudi export capacity have reduced some of the immediate supply ‌anxiety," said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova.