LONDON: Debt sales across the Middle East and North Africa are expected to fall by 6 percent this year following a 30 percent decline in 2017, according to a report from a ratings agency.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) expects government spending cuts and a firmer oil price to keep a lid on new debt.
The 13 MENA nations — including Saudi Arabia — rated by S&P are forecast to borrow around $181 billion this year, down $11 billion from 2017.
Egypt remains the largest borrower with $46.4 billion or 26 percent of the region’s gross commercial long-term borrowing, followed by Iraq at $35 billion or 19 percent of the total, and Saudi Arabia at $31 billion or 17 percent of total borrowing.
“We expect MENA sovereigns’ absolute commercial debt will increase by $21 billion to about $764 billion at year-end 2018, up 3 percent from 2017,” the ratings agency said in a statement.
S&P also projects that government debt rated in the “AA” category — which includes Abu Dhabi and Kuwait — will account for 19 percent of total debt, up from 16 percent in 2017.
The share of “A” category debt will rise to about 20 percent of total regional debt. S&P noted that no MENA sovereigns are rated “AAA.”
Sharp oil price declines in 2014 and 2015 resulted in a “significant widening of GCC fiscal deficits,” according to S&P.
The S&P Global Ratings report stated that “in recent years, GCC sovereigns have implemented fiscal consolidation measures to cut government spending and increase non-oil government revenues. We expect regional fiscal deficits to moderate as a result, while the modest recovery in oil price of late should boost government revenues.”
Oil price rise to help MENA debt sales decline this year
Oil price rise to help MENA debt sales decline this year
Saudi factories and mines grow sharply in 2025, new licenses jump 23%
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s industrial and mining sectors surged in 2025, with 23 percent more licenses being issued than in the previous 12 months, according to official figures.
The 1,660 permits signed off by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources were worth more than SR76 billion ($20.52 billion), and are expected to create nearly 35,000 jobs, with the increase pointing to growing investor appetite across the Kingdom.
Factory activity also accelerated in 2025, with 1,201 facilities commencing operations, up 11.7 percent from 2024, generating more than SR31 billion in capital and creating over 45,000 jobs as the Kingdom’s manufacturing base continues to expand.
The developments support Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Strategy, launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in October 2022, that aims to drive sector growth and increase the number of factories in the Kingdom to 36,000 by 2035.
“This comes as part of the ministry’s ongoing efforts to achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to maximize the impact of industry and mining in diversifying the national economy,” the ministry’s release added.
The strategy focuses on 12 sub-sectors, targeting more than 800 investment opportunities worth SR1 trillion, striving toward tripling the industrial gross domestic product.
The ministry underlined that these indicators reflect its ongoing efforts to develop the mining sector, enhance its global competitiveness, and establish it as the third pillar of Saudi industry, while also highlighting the division’s rising attractiveness to investors.
The release explained that the ministry issued 736 new mining licenses in 2025, including 479 for exploration, 127 for building materials quarry, 61 for small mining and quarry exploitation, 52 for prospecting, and 17 surplus minerals.
By the end of 2025, the total number of active mining licenses in Saudi Arabia reached around 2,925, spanning numerous permit categories in the sector.
These included 1,553 for building materials quarry, 1,018 for exploration, 275 for small-scale mining and quarrying, 67 for prospecting, and 12 for surplus mineral licenses.
The Kingdom has become one of the fastest-growing mining investment environments globally, supported by rapid license issuance, investor incentives, and readily accessible electronic geological data.
Periodic bulletins for the industrial and mining sectors, issued by the National Industrial and Mining Information Center under the ministry, enhance transparency by providing investors and decision-makers with accurate, up-to-date data on licenses and sector developments.
