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DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has become an anchor investor in a new $300 million shariah credit fund launched by NBK Capital Partners (NBKCP) that will provide capital to mid-market companies in the Middle East, NBKCP said on Tuesday.
It did not disclose the stake taken by Public Investment Fund (PIF), which manages $400 billion in assets, but NBKCP said it was a nine-digit figure, meaning at least a third of the targeted $300 million. Fundraising closes next year.
PIF, which largely invests in equities and infrastructure, is making a rare foray into the debt market.
“We can touch parts of the economy that they (PIF) can’t touch as efficiently, so we end up being sort of this force multiplier for them in terms of getting capital into pockets efficiently,” NBKCP Senior Managing Director Yaser Moustafa told Reuters.
Portugal's largest listed bank Millennium bcp wants the government to extend the loan repayments freeze for pandemic-hit tourism companies beyond September if the health crisis has not been overcome by then, Chief Executive Officer Miguel Maya said.
Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday after a record-setting day on Wall Street, while bitcoin paused for breath after an overnight endorsement from Tesla Inc sent the cryptocurrency up 20%.
BI cut interest rates by 125 bps in 2020 (Adds quotes, context)
JAKARTA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia’s central bank governor Perry Warjiyo said on Tuesday there was room to cut interest rates further to support Southeast Asia’s biggest economy after a slower than expected pace of recovery.
His comments came after data last week showed that the economy posted its first full-year contraction since 1998 last year, of 2.07%, with gross domestic product down 2.19% on an annual basis in the fourth quarter, as the pandemic hit private consumption and investment.
“To be honest this was below what we had expected,” the Bank Indonesia (BI) governor told a hearing with parliament’s finance committee.