Elkuwaiz: Our Goal is to Create a Capital Market that is Liquid Enough to Contribute to Financing Ne

We seek to attract more foreign investors, increase free float and provide more liquidity

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chairman of the Board of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) of Saudi Arabia, HE Mohammed Bin Abdullah ElKuwaiz reported that the Saudi capital market continues forwarding towards achieving more growth and progress, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and some of the ambitious parts of the Vision come to fruition earlier than planned. The Saudi market is now among the top 10 largest markets in the world. Further, the market is ranked the 8th largest market as of the market capitalization, moving from 23rd in 2017. Also, the market used to rank 53rd in 2017 in terms of IPO proceeds and in 2023 we were ranked 16th.

During his participation in Milken public session held in USA, ElKuwaiz stated that the economic and social reforms that the Kingdom started in 2017 within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 contributed to reducing the impact of global fluctuations including interest rates. The Kingdom’s GPD almost doubled during the last 3 years crossing $1 trillion. For the first time in our history, the non-oil GDP represents 50% of the GDP.

“Being open to the world and easing foreign investment in a way that shall achieve the Kingdom's objectives are among the enablers of creating a capital market that is liquid enough to contribute to financing new sectors of economic activity and sustainably increase the capacity of our markets via more international investors, increasing free float, and more liquidity,” ElKuwaiz added.

The CMA’s Chairman referred to the size of listings in the capital market over the last three years as the number of listed companies in the Kingdom has increased by 50% (207 in 2020 to 310 at the end of 2023). This clearly shows the role of the public market in capital formation. ElKuwaiz concluded that while the stock market is relatively mature, we still need to enhance other markets in Saudi Arabia such as the debt market and derivatives markets.

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