The Finance Minister and the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning, Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, revealed a coordinated measure to enhance the investment capacity of the Public Investment Fund, as 150 billion riyals, or about 40 billion dollars, were transferred from foreign reserves at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to the Public Investment Fund in an exceptional form during the months of March and April of this year, which was reflected in the data issued by the Foundation's reserve assets in these two months.
Al-Jadaan explained that "while foreign exchange flows have witnessed levels since the beginning of the current year, within their historical limits, this measure has resulted a decrease in the total foreign reserve assets to support investment plans," noting that "the investments of the Public Investment Fund do not appear in the data of the Monetary Agency, this explains the decline that appeared in the monetary institution's monthly data."
He stressed that "this procedure was carried out after a comprehensive study and taking into account considerations related to the adequacy of foreign exchange reserves, as maximizing the return on state assets will reflect positively on economic performance and public finances and to reduce the negative effects of the Corona pandemic, indicating that the returns of investment activities achieved by the fund will be available to support public finance when needed.”
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
