Recent stories from sustg

  • OPEC’s Oil Production Announcement Sends Prices Soaring, Raises Optimism for Reigning in Oversupply in 2017
     

    In the wake of last week’s OPEC decision to reduce crude oil production, oil prices have surged roughly 15% in just one week. At roughly $55/barrel on Brent, that’s the highest level in more than a year. OPEC agreed to slash its output by 1.2 million barrels a day, or more than 1% of global output, […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia Begins to ‘Inject Large Amounts of Money Into Economy’ to Boost Growth
     

    Saudi Arabia’s government has begun “injecting large amounts of money into the economy to boost growth at the end of this year after a sharp slowdown due to low oil prices,” Reuters reports citing Saudi Central Bank data. After raising $17.5 billion last month in its first international bond issue, Saudi Arabia “did not hold that […]

     
  • Jadwa Investment: ‘Prudent Policies’ Should Decrease Saudi Deficit in 2017
     

    Jadwa Investment’s recently released macroeconomic update for the Kingdom’s economy finds that “prudent policies” have been taken to reform the fiscal budget. The Riyadh-based bank said that “fiscal consolidation, coupled with improved non-oil revenues, will mean a smaller-than-anticipated fiscal deficit in both 2016 and 2017. This consolidation will, nevertheless, negatively impact private sector activity, thereby […]

     
  • Saudi GDP to Grow at 1.8%, Central Bank Says in Annual Report
     

    The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) expects gross domestic product to grow 1.8 percent this year, the central bank said in its 52nd annual report released on Monday. The figure is higher than the IMF forecast of 1.2%.  The non-oil sector is expected to expand 2.5 percent and the oil sector, 1.2 percent, SAMA said. Real economic […]

     
  • ‘Downward Trend’ in Economic Activity Seen in Latest Jadwa Investment Chartbook
     

    Jadwa Investment’s recently released economic chartbook for the month of November found a downward trend in economic activity and the fourth consecutive negative change in government accounts with SAMA. “Economic data for September showed a downward trend in economic activity,” Jadwa said it the report, pointing to negative growth in cash withdrawals from ATMs and […]

     
  • Saudi Student Murdered in Wisconsin Shocks Community
     

    A University of Wisconsin-Stout student from Saudi Arabia died one day after being assaulted on a street in downtown Menomonie, Wis., about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, according to reports. Hussain Saeed Al-Nahdi was reportedly assaulted by a suspect whom police described as a white male about six feet tall. He died a day later […]

     
  • Saudi CMA Approves Rules for Exchange-Listed Real Estate Funds
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it has approved rules for exchange-listed real estate funds as Kingdom seeks to entice investment to develop housing in Saudi Arabia. “It is important to mention that these instructions aim to regulate offering of Real Estate Investment Traded Funds that has a primary investment objective to invest in construction developed […]

     
  • Will Saudi Spending Cutbacks Slow the Kingdom’s Push for Middle Class Home Ownership?
     

    The local director of real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said Saudi Arabia’s state spending cuts will pressure people’s ability to buy their own homes and could push housing prices in some segments down by nearly a third, according to a report in Reuters. A reduction in subsidies available to government employees and […]

     
  • Saudi Energy and Industry Minister Khalid Al-Falih: Oil Market Wrapping Up ‘Considerable Downturn’
     

    Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih said on Wednesday that oil markets were at the end of a “considerable downturn” and that fundamentals were improving. “Market forces are clearly working after a testing period of sub-$30 oil prices… Oil demand is expanding at a healthy rate despite slower global growth,” Al-Falih said. […]

     
  • Are oil markets better off with OPEC cuts?
     

    Jadwa Investment’s latest Quarterly Oil Market Update anticipates that OPEC’s decision to announce, but not to implement, a cut in production will likely lead to a small cut in oil production “more akin to a production ’freeze’ rather than an outright cut”. “Any agreement by OPEC, if reached, will of course need to be acted […]

     

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