Saudi Arabia Launches $17.5 Billion Bond Sale to Global Investors | The Wall Street Journal
'A key part of the plan is to give the kingdom access to different sources of financing through debt issues, privatization of state assets and relaxing rules on investment to attract foreign investors to the Saudi stock market.'
“As it taps the international debt market for the first time, Saudi Arabia joins other oil exporters from the Gulf region such as Qatar, Bahrain Oman and Abu Dhabi [a.k.a. the Gulf Cooperation Council].” Full story here.
Also see: Saudi Arabia Is Looking for Friends | Bloomberg
“Having net foreign assets worth more than 170 percent of GDP is another source of comfort. The expected deterioration is so glacial that even in 50 years time, there should be more than 100 percent of GDP in net foreign assets. Saudi Arabia must be one of the most solvent countries.”
And: Neil Macdonald: Let’s not kid ourselves, Canada is in the war business | CBC
“Did Canada ever share the U.S. State Department’s concerns about complicity in atrocities in Yemen? We don’t know. The Canadian government is far more secretive than the Americans about such matters. We do know that Canadian-made vehicles were used in the bloody repression of Bahrain’s Shia population a few years ago. Whether they are deployed in Yemen is unclear, and it’s a safe bet the Canadian government isn’t terribly interested in finding out.”