Riyadh, (Business News Report)| Fitch Ratings has rated the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) at “A” and expected it to join the global debt markets during the coming period.
Fitch said that the PIF will continue to benefit from stable capital flows from the government, during the growth phase of its operations in the debt markets.
The agency stated that the total assets of the PIF at the end of 2021 were equivalent to 57% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP.
A credit rating of “A” means high repayment capacity with little risk.
Meanwhile, the PIF manages assets amounting to about $480 billion, and is the main device for promoting Saudi investments at home and abroad.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund aims to double its assets to more than $1.1 trillion by 2025, by diversifying its international portfolio on a large scale.
On January 12, Bloomberg quoted sources it described as “informed,” that the PIF plans to invest $10 billion in the financial markets.
The Saudi wealth fund is ranked seventh among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, according to the latest Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWF Institute) classification.
In a related context, the PIF has raised $5 billion from selling stakes in its companies, during a period of 3 months.
The PIF said that the collection of the mentioned amount came within the Kingdom’s plan to offer a group of government companies on the local stock exchange through the fund.
The fund also aims to raise $820 million from the sale of a stake in the digital security company Elm.
The sale will take place next month after pricing the sale of shares at the top range, in addition to the $3.2 billion that the fund raised from selling shares in Saudi Telecom Company (STC), last December.
STC’s bid was the largest secondary bid in the EMEA region last year.
Meanwhile, Saudi stock sales witnessed huge investor demand, with most of the IPOs priced at the highest price range.
