Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has announced the transfer of 4 percent of the shares of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco, or just Aramco) to the sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Prince Mohammed, who is also chairman of the country’s Council of Economic and Development Affairs, as well as the PIF’s Board of Directors was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying that the transfer was part of Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategy to support the restructuring of its economy, in line with Vision 2030.
The transfer is also said to support the PIF’s plans to grow its Assets under Management to around SAR4 trillion (around $1.07 trillion) by the end of 2025.
The shares are expected to bolster the fund’s strong financial position and high credit ratings in the medium term.
After all, the PIF relies on the value of its assets and the returns on its Assets under Management for its funding strategy.
Prince Mohammed indicated that the PIF continues to achieve its strategy by maximizing the value of its assets, launching new sectors, forming strategic partnerships, and localizing knowledge and technologies.
By 2025, the PIF is expected to deploy up to SAR1 trillion ($266.67 billion) in domestic projects, increasing its local content contributions and the contributions of its portfolio of companies to around 60 percent, creating direct and indirect jobs in the local labor market.
The prince pointed out that after the transfer, the Saudi state would remain Aramco’s largest shareholder, retaining more than 94 percent of the total shares.
He concluded that the country remains committed to continuing the implementation of its financial and economic reforms and expanding the investment opportunities available to public development funds and the private sector to enable the realization of Vision 2030 targets.