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Saudi Arabia Signs $10.6 Bln Deal to Develop Local Infrastructure

Officials sign the agreement on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Officials sign the agreement on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Signs $10.6 Bln Deal to Develop Local Infrastructure

Officials sign the agreement on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Officials sign the agreement on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia will invest 40 billion riyals ($10.6 billion) in developing local infrastructure projects, announced the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing.

Under the new agreement, nearly 90 million square meters will be allocated for the local infrastructure projects to provide over 150,000 housing units across 11 cities in an effort to accommodate around 750,000 people.

In addition, nearly 54 million square meters will be allocated for public areas, facilities, parks, road networks and public transport.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a housing exhibition organized by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing in Riyadh, under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The exhibition is set to run until September 28.

The deal was signed in the presence of Minister of Housing Majid al-Hogail, Minister of Tourism Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman al-Fadley, and Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Saleh Al-Jasser.

The housing ministry was represented by Undersecretary for Real Estate Development Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Taweel, while the National Housing Company was represented by CEO of NHC Eng Mohammad bin Saleh Al-Bati.

The company is the leading enabler of the real estate development sector and the largest major developer of suburbs and residential communities, and aims to increase the real estate supply in the Kingdom with various housing options.

This comes as part of the company’s efforts to achieve the objectives of the housing program as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, by raising the proportion of housing ownership for Saudi families to 70 percent.

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Dollar Resumes Upward Trend, Euro Hits Lowest since Nov 2022

US Dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US Dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Dollar Resumes Upward Trend, Euro Hits Lowest since Nov 2022

US Dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US Dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The dollar hit new multi-month highs against the euro and the pound on Thursday, the first day of 2025 trading, as it built on last year's strong gains on expectations US interest rates will remain high relative to peers.

The euro fell to as low as $1.0314, its lowest since November 2022, down around 0.3% on the day. It is now down nearly 8% since its late September highs above $1.12, one major victim of the dollar's recent surge.

Traders anticipate deep interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank in 2025, with markets pricing in at least four 25 basis point cuts, while not being certain of even two such moves from the US Federal Reserve, Reuters reported.

The dollar was hitting milestones across the board and the pound was last down 0.65% at $1.2443, its lowest since April, with its fall accelerating after it broke through resistance around $1.2475.

"It's more of the same at the start of the new calendar year with the dollar continuing to extend its advances in anticipation of Trump putting in place friendly policies at the start of his term," said Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG.

US President-elect Donald Trump's policies are widely expected to not only boost growth but also add to upward price pressure. That will lead to a Fed cautious about cutting rates too much further, in turn underpinning US Treasury yields and boost dollar demand.

A weaker growth outlook outside the US, conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war have also added to demand for the dollar.

The dollar also reversed an early loss on Thursday to climb against the Japanese yen, and was last up 0.17% at 157.26.

It reached a five-month high above 158 yen in late December, potentially putting pressure on the Bank of Japan, which is expected to raise interest rates early this year, but possibly not immediately.

"If dollar/yen were to break above 160 ahead of the next BOJ meeting, that could be a catalyst for the BOJ to hike in January rather than wait until March," said Hardman.

"Though for now markets are leaning towards March after the dovish comments from (governor Kazuo) Ueda at his last press conference."

Even those who are more cautious about sustained dollar strength think it could take a long time to play out.

"The dollar may be vulnerable – but only if the US data confound market expectations that the Fed doesn’t cut rates more than once in the first half of this year, and not by more than 50bp in the whole of 2025," said Kit Juckes chief FX strategist at Societe Generale in a note.

"There's a good chance of that happening, but it seems very unlikely that cracks in US growth will appear early in the year – hence my preference for taking any bearish dollar thoughts with me into hibernation until the weather improves."

China's yuan languished at 14-month lows as worries about the health of the world's second-biggest economy, the prospect of US import tariffs from the Trump administration and sliding local yields weighed on investor sentiment.

Elsewhere, the Swiss franc, another victim of the recent dollar strength, gave back early gains to last trade flat at 0.90755 per dollar.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars, however, managed to break away from two-year lows touched on Tuesday. The Aussie was 0.36% higher at $0.6215 having dropped 9% in 2024, its weakest yearly performance since 2018.

The kiwi rose 0.47% to $0.5614.