Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments
- OPEC+ reached a major supply agreement that would see total oil production by member countries increased by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) every month starting in August until September 2022 when the remaining 5.8 million bpd cut from global production last year is added back to the market. The agreement also resolves a dispute over output levels by raising production baselines for Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Russia, and other countries starting in May 2022.
- Saudi Arabia’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds stood at SAR477.4 billion ($127.3 billion) in May, declining 3 percent MoM. Since the beginning of 2021, the Kingdom’s U.S. Treasury holdings have decreased 6.6 percent. Saudi Arabia remained the 14th largest sovereign holder of U.S. debt.
- Saudi Arabia announced only vaccinated persons will be allowed to enter both public and private establishments starting August 1. The Kingdom also extended international travel restrictions to Indonesia amid a surge in Delta variant cases.