Weekly Market Brief – 2/3/2023

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has increased its interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent, mirroring Wednesday’s move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to curb inflation. The Fed’s quarter-point interest rate hike follows months of larger increases, as it hiked 50 basis points in December, and 75 basis points in November, September, July, and June.

• Saudi Arabia’s Purchasing Managers’ Index reached 58.2 points in January 2023, the second-highest since September 2021, according to the latest Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers Index report. New order inflows continued to rise at a marked pace in January, as firms typically commented on improving demand conditions and stronger client orders.

• Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product grew by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, driven by a high increase in non-oil activities, according to the latest report released by the General Authority for Statistics (GAStat). Non-oil activities in the Kingdom rose 6.2 percent YoY in the fourth quarter of 2022, while oil activities rose by 6.1 percent.