RIYADH: Saudi Investment Recycling Co. has launched the first solid waste treatment plant inside Jeddah Islamic Port, marking a significant step toward sustainability and a circular economy. 

CAIRO: Egypt's net foreign assets jumped by $2.74 billion in January, boosted apparently by the sale of $2 billion in dollar-denominated bonds, central bank data showed.

JEDDAH: French maritime company CMA CGM has added new BIGEX3 and BIGEX4 services at two Saudi ports, enhancing connectivity and boosting the Kingdom’s global trade and competitiveness.

RIYADH: Investment in Middle East and North Africa startups surged nearly fivefold in February, with funding reaching $494 million across 58 deals, according to Wamda’s monthly report. 

RIYADH: Saudi banks posted strong financial results in January, with aggregate profits rising 16 percent year on year to SR8.14 billion ($2.17 billion), according to newly released data. 

LONDON: OPEC+ has decided to proceed with a planned April oil output increase, the group said on Monday. The increase is the first since 2022 from OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and other allies. Oil was trading 2 percent lower toward $71 a barrel at 1900 GMT. Eight OPEC+ members that are making the group’s most recent layer of output cuts held a virtual meeting on Monday and agreed to proceed with the April increase, OPEC said. The increase is 138,000 barrels per day according to Reuters calculations. “This gradual increase may be paused or reversed subject to market conditions,” OPEC said in a statement. “This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability.” Oil has been trading in a range of $70-$82 a barrel in recent weeks in anticipation of major changes to US sanctions on large oil producers Iran, Russia and Venezuela as well as US tariffs on China that could reduce demand. Trump has renewed pressure on OPEC to bring down prices, which rallied to multi-month highs above $82 a barrel in January after Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden slapped new sanctions on Russia. Since then prices have fallen on hopes Trump would help clinch a peace deal in the war between Russia and Ukraine and boost Russian oil flows. However, his plans to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero and the cancelation last week of a Chevron license to operate in Venezuela prevented prices from falling further. The combination of those bullish and bearish factors made decision-making for April extremely complex, OPEC+ sources have said. They added that Trump’s plans for global tariffs could complicate the outlook even further. OPEC+ has been cutting output by 5.85 million barrels per day, equal to about 5.7 percent of global supply, agreed in a series of steps since 2022 to support the market. In December, OPEC+ extended its latest layer of cuts through the first quarter of 2026, pushing back the plan to begin raising output to April. The extension was the latest of several delays last year. Based on the plan, the gradual unwinding of 2.2 million bpd of cuts — the most recent layer — begins in April with a monthly rise of 138,000 bpd.

RIYADH: The Public Investment Fund and Goldman Sachs Asset Management signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding in Riyadh on Monday. The agreement designates the PIF as an anchor investor for new private and public funds in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.

BEIJING/SINGAPORE: Oil prices extended losses on Tuesday following reports that OPEC+ will proceed with a planned output increase in April, while markets braced for the impact of US tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, as well as Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs on the US.

RIYADH: Kuwait and Egypt’s non-oil private sectors maintained growth in February as business activity increased in both countries, according to S&P Global. 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector continued its strong growth in February, driven by strong customer demand, increased hiring, and a positive economic outlook.

RIYADH: Government entities are playing a pivotal role in shaping project finance across the Gulf region as countries pursue economic diversification, drawing private investment into sectors like green energy, utilities, and transportation, according to a report by S&P Global Ratings.

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Tamara Finance Co. has received approval to provide credit services, increasing the total number of licensed lending companies in the Kingdom to 65.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s housing market is witnessing a surge in demand, with 72 percent of Saudis and expatriates expressing interest in homeownership, according to a new report.  

RIYADH: Jordan’s Alyoum Bakery is set to scale operations and introduce additional product categories following an agreement with the Saudi Jordanian Investment Co.