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Saudi Arabia Boosts Implementation, Development of Islamic Finance

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Boosts Implementation, Development of Islamic Finance

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

The Saudi Central Bank, previously called the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, has issued new directives to financing companies in the Kingdom, official sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Based on Sharia governance, the ordered measures seek to establish a minimum level of practices that improve Saudi Arabia’s financing scene compatibility with Islamic provisions and principles.

According to the information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, the instructions include defining the roles and responsibilities of the board of directors, the Sharia committee, and senior management.

They also cover principles of independence and confidentiality.

Through the new measures, the Saudi Central Bank has shown a strong desire for strengthening and developing Islamic Finance in relevant companies.

Moreover, recent instructions compel finance companies to disclose the resumes of all board members on the company’s website to ensure that stakeholders can judge their efficiency and ability to carry out assigned tasks effectively.

Senior management’s responsibilities include identifying legal matters and referring them to the Central Bank’s specialized committee for a final decision.

The Central Bank will provide necessary legal aid and disclosures. Its committee will follow up on the implementation of decisions as well.

Education and training programs will be offered for main internal stakeholders, including the board, the committee and employees.

As for Islamic Finance supervision, the new instructions show that Sharia compliance can cover regular evaluation of financing activities carried out by designated companies.

Regulatory assessment will ensure the compliance of financing companies with the provisions and principles of Islamic Finance laws.

A competent third party can be hired to carry out these tasks after notifying the Central Bank.

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Business

IMF Reaches Staff-level Deal with Egypt that Could Unlock $1.6 Billion

FILE PHOTO: A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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IMF Reaches Staff-level Deal with Egypt that Could Unlock $1.6 Billion

FILE PHOTO: A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of buildings and the Great Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt on reviews of two financing arrangements, potentially unlocking about $1.6 billion pending approval by the fund's executive board.

The agreement would make available about $1.5 billion under Egypt's Extended Fund Facility and about $136 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, bringing total disbursements under the arrangements to about $7.2 billion, Reuters quoted the IMF as saying.

The IMF said the impact of the war in the Middle East on Egypt's economy had remained "relatively contained,” helped by "timely and decisive" policy measures including fuel and electricity price adjustments, curbs on government energy consumption and spending reprioritization.

The IMF said real GDP growth reached 5% in the third quarter, bringing growth for the first three ⁠quarters of the fiscal year to 5.2%, while headline urban inflation remained elevated at 14.6% in May and was projected to rise to 15.8% by the end of the fiscal year.

It said Egypt should maintain tight monetary policy to contain renewed inflationary pressures and keep exchange rate flexibility as the "first line of defense" against external shocks, including spillovers from heightened geopolitical tensions.

The fund said Egypt's fiscal performance was strong, with primary balance and tax revenue targets exceeded by end-March, and projected the primary surplus to rise to 5% of GDP ⁠in the 2026/27 ⁠fiscal year from 4.8% in 2025/26.

The IMF said swift implementation of Egypt's State Ownership Policy, including faster divestment of state assets, would be critical to supporting private sector-led growth. Earlier in June, Egypt's cabinet said it had granted four state-owned companies preliminary listings as part of its privatization program.

Egypt agreed to a $3 billion loan with the IMF in December 2022. The program was expanded to $8 billion in March 2024, when the country was grappling with high inflation and foreign currency shortages.

Egypt's foreign reserves rose to $53.134 billion in May from $48.526 billion in May 2025, according to central bank data.

Business

Saudi Arabia Introduces New Irrigation Code to Save 2 Billion Cubic Meters of Water Annually

Part of the meetings of Saudi Water Week
Part of the meetings of Saudi Water Week
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Saudi Arabia Introduces New Irrigation Code to Save 2 Billion Cubic Meters of Water Annually

Part of the meetings of Saudi Water Week
Part of the meetings of Saudi Water Week

Saudi Arabia is expanding the use of treated wastewater as a strategic resource to support industrial and urban growth, with industrial consumption projected to exceed 100 million cubic meters annually by 2030.

The push comes alongside the launch of a new national irrigation code designed to save about 2 billion cubic meters of water each year.

CEO of the Saudi Irrigation Organization (SIO) Mohammed bin Zaid Abu Haid told Asharq Al-Awsat that water has become a cornerstone of the Kingdom’s development agenda.

He said rapid economic growth and the rollout of megaprojects across Saudi Arabia are driving demand for treated water as a key component of project infrastructure.

The corporation manages and operates dams while overseeing the transport, distribution, and reuse of treated water for urban, industrial, and agricultural purposes, a sector that is expanding rapidly, he said.

Treated water use in industry has risen by about 50 percent over the past two years, increasing from roughly 20 million cubic meters to 30 million cubic meters by the end of 2025. Abu Haid expects consumption to surpass 100 million cubic meters by 2030.

Urban demand has also grown sharply. Consumption for parks, green spaces, and projects under the Saudi Green Initiative climbed from about 65,000 cubic meters to nearly 13 million cubic meters, with forecasts pointing to 150 million cubic meters annually by 2030.

Abu Haid identified the Saudi Green Initiative as one of the main drivers of demand for treated water, alongside development projects, nature reserves, and expanding urban applications.

He also announced the imminent launch of the Irrigation Practices Code, developed by the corporation in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The code is expected to raise irrigation efficiency in the Kingdom from about 55 percent to more than 70 percent.

Once fully implemented, the code is projected to save around 2 billion cubic meters of water annually. Field trials have shown higher farm productivity, increased farmer incomes, and more efficient water use.

The code also aims to reduce water consumption in grain cultivation from 9,750 cubic meters per hectare to about 6,500 cubic meters per hectare. Abu Haid said the project is in its final stages and will be officially launched during the World Water Forum.

Business

UK Economy Grows as Expected before Iran War Impact

FILE PHOTO: The London skyline is seen with the financial district in the background, in London, Britain, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The London skyline is seen with the financial district in the background, in London, Britain, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo
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UK Economy Grows as Expected before Iran War Impact

FILE PHOTO: The London skyline is seen with the financial district in the background, in London, Britain, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The London skyline is seen with the financial district in the background, in London, Britain, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo

Britain's economy grew robustly in the first quarter of 2026, official data confirmed on Tuesday, but households were squeezed even before the worst effects of the US-Iran conflict started to feed through.

Economic output grew by 0.6% in the first three months of the year, unchanged from an initial estimate by the Office for National Statistics.

"Services were the main driver of growth in the latest quarter, with strengths in computer programming, wholesale and advertising only offset by falls in rental companies and recruitment agencies," ⁠Liz McKeown, director ⁠of economic statistics at the ONS, said.

It marked the third year running of conspicuously strong growth in the first quarter — and some economists have raised concerns with the statistics office's seasonal adjustment processes.

According to Reuters, the ONS reiterated on Tuesday that a review had found no statistically significant seasonality, although it was monitoring it closely.

Business surveys and economic growth data for April suggest Britain's likely next prime minister to replace ⁠Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham, will face a tougher inheritance.

"Alongside softer household spending, tighter financial conditions and economic uncertainty will weigh on investment," said Matt Swannell, chief economic adviser to the EY ITEM Club, a consultancy.

"Even though the government will soon be under new leadership, fiscal policy is likely to remain tight in the near term."

The ONS revised growth in the final three months of 2025 down to 0.1%.

Output in 2025 as a whole was also slightly lower than previously thought at 1.3%, compared with a previous estimate of 1.4%.

Sterling showed little reaction to the data.

Real household disposable income per head, a measure of living standards that the Labour government aims to ⁠raise by the end ⁠of the parliamentary term, contracted by 0.8% in the first quarter, after a 1.2% rise at the end of 2025.

Households put less money aside in the first quarter with the savings ratio decreasing by 0.7 percentage points to 8.9%, driven by a fall in the contribution of non-pension saving.

The squeeze on households looks set to continue as the Bank of England held interest rates at 3.75% in June and investors are pricing in the first quarter-point increase by February 2027.

Britain's budget watchdog in March forecast the economy to expand 1.1%, although the projections were made before the Iran war started.

Compared with a year earlier, GDP was 0.9% higher, the ONS said, revised down from a previous estimate of 1.1%, while output on a per capita basis was 0.7% higher than the year before.