Weekly Market Brief – 1/27/2023

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• Start-ups in Saudi Arabia recorded a 72 percent annual increase in venture capital funding to SAR3.7 billion ($987 million) across 144 deals in 2022. The Kingdom was the second-most funded country after the U.A.E. in the Middle East and North Africa. It also accounted for 31 percent of total capital invested in the region, according to start-up data platform Magnitt’s Venture Capital Report.

• Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center released the 2023 Annual Borrowing Report as it expects the Kingdom’s financing needs to reach SAR45 billion ($12 billion). The Ministry of Finance forecasts the Kingdom’s debt portfolio will decline to SAR951 billion ($254 billion) or 24.6 percent of GDP in 2023.

• Saudi Arabia’s international reserve assets retreated by SAR45.6 billion ($12 billion) or 3 percent, MoM to SAR1.72 trillion ($459 billion) in December 2022, according to the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). The Kingdom’s reserve assets grew 1 percent or SAR16.8 billion ($4.5 billion) YoY.