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Largest Saudi Bank Merger to Increase Internal, External Branches

FILE PHOTO: A Saudi man walks outside the Saudi National Commercial Bank (NCB), after a coronavirus outbreak, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Saudi man walks outside the Saudi National Commercial Bank (NCB), after a coronavirus outbreak, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri/File Photo
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Largest Saudi Bank Merger to Increase Internal, External Branches

FILE PHOTO: A Saudi man walks outside the Saudi National Commercial Bank (NCB), after a coronavirus outbreak, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Saudi man walks outside the Saudi National Commercial Bank (NCB), after a coronavirus outbreak, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri/File Photo

With the imminent announcement of the start of the operations of Saudi Samba and the National Commercial Bank (NCB) next month, Samba’s Chairman Eng. Ammar Alkhudairy said that the merger would enhance the ability of the new bank to produce and distribute new products and keep pace with the Saudi economic growth within Vision 2030.

During a meeting on Tuesday organized by the Financial Knowledge and Communication Center (Mutamim), AlKhudairy stressed that no employee would be dismissed as a result of the merger, noting that the market value of the two banks would rise by 40 to 50 percent as of the announcement.

Member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Financial Society, Talaat Hafiz, underlined the importance of the merger in improving the quality of banking services and expanding the product base, as well as creating a great scope for innovation and strengthening the ability to overcome financial challenges facing giant and large entities.

Hafiz noted that the merger came in line with the requirements of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which includes 13 programs and mega projects in terms of quality and funding needed for NEOM, The Line, The Red Sea, Qiddiya and others.

Such large projects require large sums, which cannot be provided by medium or small financial entities, which means that this merger will have an impact in supporting mega projects in energy, entertainment, tourism and sustainable development, he emphasized.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hafiz said the new entity would confirm the success of the attempts to create an added value for the Kingdom’s economy and development, in light of global economic and financial challenges.

With regard to the impact of this merger on attracting foreign direct and indirect investments, he said: “Attracting investments certainly requires a large market and sources of financing; thus, an entity such as the new merged bank will help support local and foreign investors, and the interest will be reciprocal in view of the size of the combined assets, which are estimated at 837 billion riyals (USD 223.2 billion).”

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China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on US goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying" and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

Washington's repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the US tariffs.

“There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself ... and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.”

Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other countries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”

Trump's on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the US could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the US and China are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.

“The risk that this escalating trade war tips the world into a recession is rising as the two largest and most powerful countries in the world continue to punch back with higher and higher tariffs,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital markets, wrote Friday. “No one truly knows when this will end.”

Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs — all among the country's major imports from the US Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.

The United States' top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production.

White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.