Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments
- The BRICS bloc of developing nations admitted Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates into the group. The six new candidates will formally become members on Jan. 1, 2024.
- The National Debt Management Center concluded its Riyal-denominated sukuk program issuance for August, with a bid amount totaling SAR3.50 billion ($930 million), marking a 33.07 percent increase YoY. The issuance was executed in two tranches, with the first tranche valued at SAR2.4 billion ($640 million), set to mature in 2031 and the second worth SAR1.1 billion ($293 million) in 2033.
- Saudi Arabia’s merchandise exports for June 2023 reached SAR88.8 billion ($23.7 billion), decreasing by 39.7 percent from SAR147.1 billion ($39.2 billion) YoY. China emerged as Saudi Arabia’s largest merchandise trading partner in June, with exports amounting to SAR13.7 billion ($3.7 billion), or 15.5 percent of the total. South Korea and India followed with SAR8.1 billion ($2.2 billion) and SAR7.7 billion ($2.1 billion) of total exports, respectively.
