S&P Global Ratings has affirmed Saudi Arabia’s rating at “A/A-1” with a stable outlook, on the expectation that economic and social reforms will continue to improve the country’s economic resilience and wealth levels.
The A/A-1 rating indicates the country’s strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.
“The stable outlook reflects that we expect the government’s wide-ranging reforms will continue to underpin the development of the non-oil sector and support non-oil growth and fiscal receipts,” the rating agency said on Friday.
“This is balanced against the cyclicality of a still hydrocarbon-focused economy, and fiscal pressures tied to the country’s transformation plan and expanding population.”
Saudi Arabia is focusing on diversifying its economy away from oil, supporting the development of sectors including technology, property, tourism and infrastructure as part of Vision 2030.
The kingdom aims to generate employment and help its non-oil economy to grow.
Saudi Arabia's economy, the largest in the Arab world, contracted by 0.8 per cent annually last year, mainly due to a sharp decline in the oil sector, although the non-oil sector expanded by 4.4 per cent during the period.
The oil sector recorded a 9 per cent drop in 2023, while the government sector grew 2.1 per cent, the General Authority for Statistics said on March 10.
Last year, the kingdom’s gross domestic product at current prices exceeded 4 trillion Saudi riyals ($1.06 trillion), according to the latest data from Gastat.
Crude petroleum and natural gas activities contributed 25.4 per cent to the total, followed by government services (15.7 per cent), wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels (9.7 per cent), manufacturing excluding petroleum refining (8.8 per cent), petroleum refining activities (6 per cent) and real estate (5.9 per cent).
Saudi Arabia, along with other members of the Opec+ alliance, has been reducing crude output as part of efforts to “balance the market”.
This month, the kingdom, the world’s biggest oil exporter and Opec's largest producer, said it will extend its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day to the end of the second quarter of 2024.
The production cap is in addition to the voluntary cut of 500,000 bpd announced by the kingdom in April 2023, which will remain in effect until the end of December.
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In the lead-up to 2030, S&P Global said it expected to see an acceleration of investment projects seeking to establish new industries, such as tourism, and diversify the economy away from its primary reliance on the upstream hydrocarbon sector.
“An acceleration of non-oil sector investment and robust consumption growth will keep Saudi Arabia’s overall GDP growth at 3.3 per cent, on average, annually over 2024-2027,” the rating agency said.
“Economic diversification away from upstream crude production continues, with the non-oil sector now accounting for around 60 per cent of GDP.”
However, S&P projected fiscal deficits of around 2 per cent of GDP over the 2024-2027 period.
The agency estimated that gross general government debt will gradually rise to about 26 per cent of GDP in 2027, from 22 per cent in 2023.
It estimated that current account surpluses would average 1.1 per cent of GDP over 2024-2027, after an estimated 3.6 per cent in 2023.
“We expect that gradually increasing oil production volumes from 2025, relatively favourable oil prices, and rising tourism receipts will narrowly outpace the strong expected growth in imports,” S&P Global said.
The agency said it expected inflation to average 2.2 per cent in 2024 and 1.8 per cent in 2025-2027, though it warned that these projections could be threatened by supply-side constraints and Red Sea-related disruptions.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
Essentials
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Seattle from Dh6,755 return in economy and Dh24,775 in business class.
The cruise
UnCruise Adventures offers a variety of small-ship cruises in Alaska and around the world. A 14-day Alaska’s Inside Passage and San Juans Cruise from Seattle to Juneau or reverse costs from $4,695 (Dh17,246), including accommodation, food and most activities. Trips in 2019 start in April and run until September.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
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- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
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- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
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- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
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UAE squad to face Ireland
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
