Net foreign assets at Saudi Arabia's central bank, a measure of its ability to support its currency, look set to fall sharply this year as oil prices slump and Riyadh expands its sovereign wealth fund to invest abroad, according to a report by Reuters news agency.
An international banker in touch with Saudi authorities said much of the decline in foreign assets appeared due to the transfer of money to state funds investing abroad - particularly the main sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
They shrank from a record high of $737bn in August 2014 to $529bn at the end of 2016 as the government liquidated some assets to cover the huge budget deficit caused by the fall in oil prices.
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