Saudi PIF's assets estimated at $300 bln: IIF

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is estimated to have around $300 billion worth of assets, of which one-fourth are invested abroad, the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF) has noted in its latest report.

According to IIF, these foreign investments include the electric car maker Tesla, Softbank’s Vision Fund, Blackstone’s infrastructure fund, Egypt’s investment fund, Russia’s investment fund, and Uber.

Proceeds from privatization (a target of about $200 billion) and the eventual 5 percent sale of Aramco (a target of $100 billion) will further boost the PIF’s assets, IIF noted.

IIF expects that Aramco will buy a 70 percent stake in the state-owned Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), one of the world’s largest petrochemical manufacturers, before mid-2020, at a cost of $69 billion. This would lead to a further increase in the PIF’s assets, IIF added.

“A large portion of the increase in capital outflows will be driven by the PIF’s foreign investment in equities, fixed income securities, minority shares in global companies, and deposits with banks abroad,” the report added.