Saudi Finance Minister says no immediate transfer of funds to PIF

DUBAI Reuters -- Saudi Arabia's finance minister said on Monday there were no immediate plans to transfer more funds to the Public Investment Fund PIF, the sovereign wealth fund at the centre of the kingdom's plans to diversify its economy away from oil.

The PIF has more than 600 billion assets in its possession, a figure that has doubled in the past two years.

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said there was no immediate plan to transfer funds to PIF.

In 2020, the PIF received $40 billion injection from the central bank, which Jadaan said was made on an exceptional basis. In February this year, Saudi Arabia transferred 4% of Saudi Aramco's shares, now worth $92 billion, to the PIF.

In the first quarter of next year, Jadaan said that Saudi Arabia would deploy its expected surplus from this year, which would have the most positive impact on the economy, including to the National Development Fund, which supports private sector investment.

He said we need to make sure we allocate enough money to them.

He said that they have opportunities to invest with the PIF because they are making very good deals in their investments and doing very well, both inside and outside Saudi.

He said foreign reserves would be looked at to see if they need to be bolstered.

Jadaan stated that Saudi Arabia expects economic growth of 7.4% this year and that inflation could reach between 2.1% and 2.3% by the end of 2022.

He said a cap on petrol prices would help contain inflation if oil falls below $70.

It was the end of last year that we froze the price of gasoline for the internal economy and households at $70. The economy won't feel the heat if anything above $70 is above that.