Summary

According to reporting in the Financial Times, Saudi Arabia has been burning through its foreign reserve stockpile at a near record pace.

Saudi authorities tapped into reserves to the tune of $24 billion in March and $21 billion in April, bringing the total remaining reserves down to $444 billion. In the latter part of 2019, the Kingdom’s reserves stood at around $510 billion.

Recent transfers involved shifting resources from the central bank’s reserve pile to the state-administered Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has been aggressively buying up global assets amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some are worried that the return horizon envisioned in these investments is too far in the future given the budgetary struggles and uncertain economic prospects that loom in the months ahead.