Saudi Arabia launches $152 billion National Development Fund

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a new strategy for the Kingdom’s National Development Fund (NDF), transforming it into an integrated national financial institution, state news agency SPA reported.

Under the new strategy, the National Development Fund will aim to contribute to the Kingdom’s real GDP growth by injecting more than $152 billion by 2030 and will aim to triple non-oil GDP to reach $161 billion by 2030, the report said.

The Crown Prince said: “NDF’s strategy aspires to create a long-term and sustainable economy through transforming the Fund into a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to contribute to achieving Saudi Vision 2030 objectives; as it seeks, through its development funds and banks, to stimulate a threefold increase in the private sector’s development impact on the Kingdom’s economy by 2030.”

Developing Kingdom’s Objectives

The NDF’s strategy activates the Kingdom’s development objectives by securing liquidity for the development funds and banks, in addition to enabling it to achieve a sustainable business model portfolio, and mobilizing the private sector to enhance its role in development finance and take advantage of the harmonization, commercial and operational integration to serve the beneficiaries of the affiliated entities secure long-term sustainable economic growth, the report said.

NDF Vice Chairman of the Board, Muhammad bin Mazyad Al-Tuwaijri, said: “We intend to achieve… [our] goals by transforming the Kingdom’s economy from an economy dependent on government spending to an economy led and integrated by the private sector, in addition to encouraging exports and local industries, achieving financial sustainability, and working as an effective tool to face the fluctuations of economic challenges, and we are confident that the National Development Fund will be one of the main pillars to turn these plans into a tangible reality.”

Global Best Practices

The NDF was established by Royal Decree upon the Crown Prince’s recommendation to set affiliated development funds and banks with robust and sustainable development that functions according to global best practices, SPA.

The NDF is mandated to blaze a path for Vision 2030 goals and development agendas to be transformed into reality. The Fund oversees the financing activities carried out by its development funds and banks and aligns its various policies. The NDF has injected more than $183.89 billion through its affiliates since its inception, becoming one of the largest development finance funds in terms of the ratio of assets to GDP in G20 economies, with assets amounting to $132.18 billion, SPA added.