عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

IMF’s Georgieva to Asharq Al-Awsat: Vision 2030 Reforms Highly Successful

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

IMF’s Georgieva to Asharq Al-Awsat: Vision 2030 Reforms Highly Successful

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has declared that Saudi Arabia's commitment to reform is what has propelled it to its current level of economic stability, despite the uncertainties facing the global economy.

Georgieva also commended the non-oil sector’s advancements within the kingdom.

Her remarks were made during her participation in a session on the second day of Riyadh's flagship FII annual investment conference.

The IMF had previously projected the continued momentum of the non-oil sector in 2023, with an average growth rate expected to reach 4.9% in the same year.

The Fund welcomed the ongoing economic transformation in Saudi Arabia, supported by reforms that it deemed praiseworthy in light of the “Saudi Vision 2030” plan.

In a previous statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, the IMF anticipated a 4% growth in the Saudi economy by 2024.

It emphasized that over the past years, Saudi Arabia has diversified its sources of income and adopted a medium-term approach to fiscal management, which has boosted revenues.

Additionally, the IMF noted that certain measures have had a positive impact on the economy.

Georgieva stated that Saudi Arabia has achieved remarkable performance over the past five years.

“This year, the oil sector of the economy, for reasons we all know, is not performing well, but the non-oil sector continues to grow robustly,” she added.

Georgieva emphasized that Saudi Arabia needs to continue its commitment to implementing structural reforms and pointed to the significant role of Saudi women in this transformation.

She noted that the participation of Saudi women in the workforce has surpassed the targets set in Vision 2030, reaching approximately 36% today.

One of the goals of Vision 2030 was to increase women's participation in the workforce from 22% to 30%.

Georgieva explained that Saudi Arabia is focusing on supporting the youth and promoting entrepreneurship while reducing youth unemployment rates.

“It's wise to say that in the next two years, we want to have a ‘Vision 2040,’” noted Georgieva.

“We are climbing a mountain, and we know that the closer we get to the summit, the harder the climb becomes. But we continue to ascend,” she added.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

Asian Shares are Mixed with Tech Stocks Volatile, and Oil Falls on Trump's Russian Sanctions Waiver

Passersby walk past a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 15 October 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Passersby walk past a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 15 October 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
TT
TT

Asian Shares are Mixed with Tech Stocks Volatile, and Oil Falls on Trump's Russian Sanctions Waiver

Passersby walk past a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 15 October 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
Passersby walk past a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 15 October 2026. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Asian shares were mixed Monday as volatility in technology stocks persisted, while US equity futures edged higher ahead of another week of American corporate earnings results.

Oil prices fell more than 1% after US President Donald Trump’s decision to waive sweeping sanctions on Russia, including on Russian energy, The Associated Press said.

A sell-off of technology shares from Asia to Wall Street recently put downward pressure on stock markets, as investor concerns grow over the sustainability of the artificial intelligence boom.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index was up 1.1% to 5,729.58 on Monday, after falling sharply last week. The Kospi is down more than 18% over the past month, and still well below the 9,000 mark it crossed in June at its peak on the global AI frenzy.

Samsung Electronics was up 0.7%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix fell 0.9%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.8% to 64,799.03. Japanese chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron lost 2.1%, and OpenAI investor SoftBank Group dropped 3.6%.

Hong Kong’s stock market was closed because of a holiday. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher to 3,722.20, after China reported better-than-expected growth of 4.5% for its economy in the July-September quarter.

CXMT, China’s leading memory chipmaker, fell more than 7% despite the company forecasting a strong profit for the first nine months.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1%. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, were down 0.6%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.3% higher at 8,832.20.

India’s Sensex edged down 0.1%.

Indonesia’s benchmark stock index fell another 5% to its lowest level since 2020, after it plunged over 11% on Friday following a warning from index provider MSCI that it would downgrade the country from its “emerging market” status.

On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 declined 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%.

Investors this week are watching for more big corporate earnings results from the US, including Meta, Netflix, General Motors, Tesla and IBM. Strong company earnings have been one factor that’s been keeping US stocks robust lately.

Oil prices were down early Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, falling 1.8% to $107.86 per barrel.

Benchmark US crude dropped 1.6% to $97.43 per barrel.

Oil fell after Trump on Friday signed an executive order to put new broad US sanctions against Russia on hold just days before they were to come into effect, drawing disappointment from Ukraine, with the move likely resulting in more energy exports from Russia.

Trump's decision came not long after he said earlier this month he had reached a diesel deal with Russia in an attempt to bring down elevated US fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

But even with the decline, oil prices have remained elevated compared with those seen before the Iran war. Global oil supply risks are still high amid tensions in the Middle East, including uncertainty surrounding oil transport in the Strait of Hormuz, adding upward pressure to prices.

The US dollar fell slightly to 158.09 Japanese yen from 158.10 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1231, down from $1.1234.

Business

Anthropic Commits 5% of Its Stock to a New 'Public Benefit' Fund

FILE PHOTO: An Anthropic logo is displayed at Moscone Center during the Dreamforce 2026 technology summit in San Francisco, California, US, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An Anthropic logo is displayed at Moscone Center during the Dreamforce 2026 technology summit in San Francisco, California, US, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
TT
TT

Anthropic Commits 5% of Its Stock to a New 'Public Benefit' Fund

FILE PHOTO: An Anthropic logo is displayed at Moscone Center during the Dreamforce 2026 technology summit in San Francisco, California, US, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An Anthropic logo is displayed at Moscone Center during the Dreamforce 2026 technology summit in San Francisco, California, US, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Anthropic said Sunday it is committing 5% of its shares to a new “public benefit” fund, with the fund's worth potentially increasing as its shares grow in value.

The shares will go to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity within the company, The Associated Press said.

The fund “will have increased flexibility and scale, enabling us to pursue our mission in new ways: for example, we might explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations,” Anthropic said in a blog post. It gave labor market impacts as an example, saying that while it has already committed $200 million to study the effects of artificial intelligence, “given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed.”

CEO Dario Amodei and the company’s five other cofounders established Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a designation that for-profit companies select to balance financial goals and social impact.

They have also pledged that they will donate 80% of their wealth. An equity donation match program, in which about half of the company's employees participate, lets workers pledge equity that Anthropic matches.

When combined with Sunday’s announcement, Anthropic said roughly 20% of its shares will be dedicated to the “public good,” plus any additional percentage that could be added if the company’s valuation reaches specific milestones.

Anthropic is planning a massive initial public offering as soon as November.

Business

Syria, World Bank Agree to Set Up Fund for Recovery and Reconstruction

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
TT
TT

Syria, World Bank Agree to Set Up Fund for Recovery and Reconstruction

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo

Syria and the World Bank have agreed to set up a multi-donor ‌trust ‌fund focused ‌on ⁠recovery and reconstruction, they ⁠said in a joint statement on ⁠Sunday, as Damascus ‌aims to ‌rebuild after ‌a ‌more than decade-long civil war.

The fund aims ‌to provide concessional financing, ⁠investment guarantees, technical ⁠support, and capacity building, said Reuters.