SHANGHAI: The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by the BRICS group of major emerging economies, wants loans to the private sector to eventually take up a 30 percent share of its project portfolio, a senior executive at the bank said on Tuesday.
Xian Zhu, the NDB’s chief operating officer, said that the bank was targeting an overall 70-30 split between sovereign and non-sovereign loans in its project portfolio, and was seeing strong demand for private sector loans especially in Brazil, South Africa and Russia.
The Shanghai-based bank on Monday approved six new projects which brought its loan portfolio up to over $5.1 billion across 21 projects. Two of these were non-sovereign loans, which are issued to companies without a government guarantee.
“In India and China, there’s very strong demand for sovereign ... But on the other hand, some other countries for different reasons they probably prefer more non-sovereign lending,” he said.
“Some countries they still have some sort of fiscal difficulties. Secondly, the debt sustainability is a concern. They don’t want to borrow too much in sovereign terms. So they prefer you do more market transactions.”
The bank’s first non-sovereign project was a $200 million loan to Brazil’s Petrobras for an environmental protection scheme and the second a $200 million loan to South Africa’s Transnet to reconstruct a port in Durban.
Xian said that there was a gap in the market for them to fill as they were willing to make long-term loans with tenures of at least 10 years.
The NDB is seen as the first major achievement of the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — since they joined forces in 2009 to press for a bigger say in the global financial order created by Western powers after World War Two.
BRICS development bank to expand lending to private sector
BRICS development bank to expand lending to private sector
Education spending surges 251% as students return from autumn break: SAMA
RIYADH: Education spending in Saudi Arabia surged 251.3 percent in the week ending Dec. 6, reflecting the sharp uptick in purchases as students returned from the autumn break.
According to the latest data from the Saudi Central Bank, expenditure in the sector reached SR218.73 million ($58.2 million), with the number of transactions increasing by 61 percent to 233,000.
Despite this surge, overall point-of-sale spending fell 4.3 percent to SR14.45 billion, while the number of transactions dipped 1.7 percent to 236.18 million week on week.
The week saw mixed changes between the sectors. Spending on freight transport, postal and courier services saw the second-biggest uptick at 33.3 percent to SR60.93 million, followed by medical services, which saw an 8.1 percent increase to SR505.35 million.
Expenditure on apparel and clothing saw a decrease of 16.3 percent, followed by a 2 percent reduction in spending on telecommunication.
Jewelry outlays witnessed an 8.1 percent decline to reach SR325.90 million. Data revealed decreases across many other sectors, led by hotels, which saw the largest dip at 24.5 percent to reach SR335.98 million.
Spending on car rentals in the Kingdom fell by 12.6 percent, while airlines saw a 3.7 percent increase to SR46.28 million.
Expenditure on food and beverages saw a 1.7 percent increase to SR2.35 billion, claiming the largest share of the POS. Restaurants and cafes retained the second position despite a 12.6 percent dip to SR1.66 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s key urban centers mirrored the national decline. Riyadh, which accounted for the largest share of total POS spending, saw a 3.9 percent dip to SR4.89 billion, down from SR5.08 billion the previous week.
The number of transactions in the capital settled at 74.16 million, down 1.4 percent week on week.
In Jeddah, transaction values decreased by 5.9 percent to SR1.91 billion, while Dammam reported a 0.8 percent surge to SR713.71 million.
POS data, tracked weekly by SAMA, provides an indicator of consumer spending trends and the ongoing growth of digital payments in Saudi Arabia.
The data also highlights the expanding reach of POS infrastructure, extending beyond major retail hubs to smaller cities and service sectors, supporting broader digital inclusion initiatives.
The growth of digital payment technologies aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives, promoting electronic transactions and contributing to the nation’s broader digital economy.
