Fintech lending to Saudi industrial projects rose 130% in H1 2026 to SR541 million, from SR234 million in the same period last year, with fintech partners expanding to seven from three. Fintech financing to the industrial sector reached SR774 million in 2025, up 36% from SR569 million in 2024 and SR317 million in 2023. The H1 2026 figure represents about 70% of last year's full-year total.
SR317 million in 2023 increased to SR774 million by 2025 and reached SR541 million by mid this year. This rapid growth does not reflect innovation but instead points to an ongoing gap in conventional credit.
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Five billion aimed at small firms
Monsha'at and STC Bank signed an agreement to provide Shariah-compliant financing of up to SAR 5 billion to micro, small and medium enterprises, with cash and non-cash facilities running up to 10 years and covering working capital, asset purchases, financing against point-of-sale proceeds and invoice and receivables financing. Saudi Arabia counted more than 1.7 million SMEs in 2025, employing around 8.8 million people and contributing 22.9% of GDP.
As cash flow becomes the primary assessment criterion, credit officers developing SME products at Saudi banks should focus on evaluating transaction history instead of balance sheets.
The headline is oil. The story is 0.6%.
GASTAT's flash estimate puts Q2 real GDP down 4.8% year on year, oil activities −24.7%, non-oil +0.6%, government +0.9%. Seasonally adjusted, the economy shrank 4.9% on the quarter. For context, the Q1 2026 flash showed GDP +3.0% with non-oil +2.8%. so on a like-for-like flash basis, non-oil growth has fallen from 2.8% to 0.6% in one quarter.
A −4.8% print looks bad and mostly isn't; a +0.6% print looks fine and mostly isn't. That inversion is the whole difficulty of reading this economy right now, the alarming number is the reassuring one, and the reassuring number is the one to worry about.
Medevac by the Dozen
PIF's Helicopter Co. ordered 8 more H145S under a 120-aircraft framework, expanding EMS alongside a 60+ fleet
The takeaway: air-medical response is scaling, and response-time assumptions just changed for healthcare logistics and insurers
