H1 bank profits: Al Rajhi SR13.76bn (+14.15%, highest of any lender), SNB SR13.02bn, Riyad SR5.26bn, Alinma SR3.27bn; total credit a record SR3.2tn, +16.2% YoY
The takeaway: Al Rajhi out-earned every bank and grew fastest; scale and speed together are rare, worth studying.
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Riyadh climbs forty-seven places
Riyadh rose 47 places to rank 50th worldwide among 1,000 cities across 163 countries in Oxford Economics' 2026 Global Cities Index, after placing 118th in 2024 and 97th in 2025; the index scores cities on five pillars and 27 sub-indicators covering economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance.
Moving from 118th to 50th in two years reflects both strong performance and city improvement. Companies considering a regional headquarters should highlight this in their internal proposals, as boards typically accept such external rankings without question.
What the 49% ceiling costs
Morgan Stanley estimates that raising Saudi Arabia's 49% foreign ownership ceiling to 75% would draw about $4.3 billion in passive inflows, and that removing the cap entirely would draw about $7.4 billion. Saudi Arabia is the last major Gulf market keeping a blanket 49% limit.
The difference between $4.3 billion and $7.4 billion represents the cost of fully removing the cap. Most passive funds are released when the ceiling is eliminated, rather than when it is raised to 75%.
Confidence at fifty-six seven
Saudi Arabia's Business Confidence Index rose to 56.7 in August from 56.5 in July, holding above the 50-point neutral threshold, according to the General Authority for Statistics. The industrial sector's index climbed to 55.8 and the services index rose to 56.1, after the overall reading dropped to 52.1 in March amid regional tensions and rebounded to 54.5 in April.
Finance directors preparing Saudi budgets for next year should interpret the figure 56.7 as an indicator of continued customer spending expectations, while the March value of 52.1 reflects the pace of change in these expectations.
