Bloomberg: Saudi is biggest deal-maker in Middle East

Saudi Arabia has become the biggest deal-maker in the Middle East after its Public Investment Fund (PIF) spent about $54 billion on investments last year, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Seeking to own the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, Saudi “dwarfed” the Qatar Investment Authority’s $3.5 billion injection into business, according to data from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

According to Bloomberg, the boycott by Saudi Arabia and its allies led to Qatari assets and investments falling from $20 billion in 2016 when Saudi had invested just $5 billion.

Thanks to the economic plan known as Vision 2030, Saudi could become the biggest deal-maker in the region.

Chief Economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Monica Malik, said: “The PIF has been emerging as one of the most important pillars of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification and it was a momentous year for it in terms of bringing several big deals to fruition.”

She added: “At the same time, the Qatar Investment Authority has been focused on supporting the domestic economy.”

The Saudi fund now ranks at the eleventh largest with $224 billion of assets, while Qatar’s is at ninth place with $320 billion of holdings, according to Bloomberg.

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