The bullish case for Saudi Arabian stock market – The Property Chronicle
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The bullish case for Saudi Arabian stock market 6 reasons why the world financial markets will embrace this unloved stock market in 2018

The Macro View

Oil refinery at night

2018 is the year the world financial markets will embrace the unloved, underowned Saudi stock market, whose TASI index is down 42% since mid-2014. Why? One, the kingdom has reassumed its role as OPEC’s swing producer after it cut its output by 300,000 barrels a day, thus taking 100 million barrels a day from the global crude oil market. Saudi Arabia also brokered the 1.8 MBD output cut pact with Russia and OPEC that has ended the oil glut, engineered a rise in Brent crude from $45 last summer to $71 now and set the stage for a new petrocurrency tsunami to ease its budget deficit.

Two, MSCI will upgrade Saudi Arabia, the largest stock market in the Arab world in both trading volumes and market cap, to emerging markets status. This means $35 billion in index tracker funds will flow into designated Tadawul index stocks. I remember how profitable it was to own UAE and Qatari stocks ahead of their EM upgrade. Saudi Arabian equities will be no different.

Three, the anti-corruption crackdown in Riyadh have increased the economic power of Saudi state and fiscal austerity has been replaced by an expansionary budget. Yet the removal of petrol subsidies mean an uptick in inflation, possibly to as high as 5% on the consumer price index. Fiscal stimulus and inflation are both bullish for the Saudi stock market.

Four, the Saudi Aramco IPO will be one of the most awaited new listings in the international capital markets. The kingdom has also become a regular issuer of sovereign bonds and sukuk in the Eurobond market, with a $17.5 billion US dollar debt in 2016, the single largest issue in the global debt markets. The 3.8 times bid to cover ratio meant the kingdom increased the size of its issue by $2.5 billion. Saudi Arabia has also opened its local stock market to international institutional investors. The deregulation, reform and privatization program in Saudi capital markets is an integral component of the Vision 2030 plan. In fact, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange plans an IPO in 2018. I plan to IPO our Park Regis Makkah hotel in 2020.

Five, the Royal court in Riyadh announced that it will spend $261 billion in 2018, the largest ever budget in the history of the kingdom, to support its reformist agenda. Saudi Arabia will emerge from its 2017 recession in 2018. The IMF has boasted its GDP growth forecast. Saudi Arabia is also poised to dramatically increase issuance of Umra visas, making religious tourism the most lucrative property investment theme in the Middle East. Since the Saudi youth unemployment rate is 13%, fiscal stimulus and economic reforms on this scale will kick start a consumer boom. Yet the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the sharp rise in petrol prices will have an inevitable adverse impact on disposable income, the reason for recent salary increases from the $100 billion Ritz Carlton windfall.






The Macro View

About Matein Khalid

Matein Khalid

Matein Khalid is Chief Investment Officer and Partner at Asas Capital. He is responsible for global investment strategies, merchant banking, and the development of the multi-family office investment platform, advising ultra-high net worth royal and family offices in the UAE on global equities markets and foreign exchange.

Articles by Matein Khalid

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