Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments
- Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector ended 2024 on a strong footing, driven by the fastest sales growth in a year, which pushed the Kingdom’s Purchasing Managers’ Index to 58.4 points in December.
- According to the General Authority for Statistics’ (GAStat) latest Water Accounts report, non-renewable groundwater consumption by the agricultural sector dropped by 7 percent to 9,356 million cubic meters in 2023, compared to 10,044 million m³ in 2022. Moreover, there was a 31 percent increase in desalinated seawater production, now comprising 50 percent of the country’s distributed water supply, up from 44 percent in 2022.
- Saudi Arabia issued a $12 billion triple-tranche bond under its Global Medium-Term Note Issuance Program, attracting strong investor demand with a total order book of $37 billion. The offering, issued by the National Debt Management Center, was oversubscribed threefold and included three tranches: a $5 billion three-year bond maturing in 2028, a $3 billion six-year bond maturing in 2031, and a $4 billion 10-year bond maturing in 2035.
