PIF to pump $40bn into economy; Saudi Crown Prince

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared that the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has become a vital growth driver and the fund will provide $40 billion ( 150 billion riyals) yearly for its economic development in 2021 and 2022.

The fund is an important channel for raising Saudi Arabian investments at home and abroad, and the young prince, who is commonly known as MBS aims to expand the kingdom’s oil-heavy economy through his Vision 2030 plan.

“Economic diversification is key to the kingdom’s sustainability, and we are working hard to achieve this through PIF investments in tourism, sports, industry, agriculture, transportation, mining, space and other sectors. The fund managed to create the higher return of investments at a minimum of 7 percent, from 2 percent since its establishment, with some investments exceeding 70 percent and others making a return of more than 140 percent”

He further said that PIF has succeeded to increase its assets to more than $347 billion (1.3 trillion riyals) and is on the way to reach a target of assets worth $1 trillion (7 trillion riyals) by 2030.

The function of the PIF has been expanded by the Saudi government to fund development projects in the country.

PIF supports Prince Mohammed’s mega-projects such as the Red Sea flagship tourism project, planned $500 billion Neom economic zones and the entertainment hub at Qiddya. In 2019 the PIF’s local investments hit $15 billion (58 billion riyals) and plans to spend $25 billion (96 billion riyals) regionally in 2020.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is facing a deep slowdown after the COVID-19 pandemic reduced global crude demand along with other measures that have taken to tackle pandemic. But Prince Mohammed stated that he is confident that the kingdom will report one of the highest non-oil GDP growth rates in the next few years after the pandemic recedes.