Value of awarded deals hits $62 billion in Saudi construction boom
Figures short of historical threshold of $72 billion, NCB report says
The value of awarded deals in Saudi Arabia has hit $62 billion in 2013.
RELATED ARTICLES: Saudi governor announces $4.2 billion funding for 513 Taif projects | Riyadh approves $74 billion overhaul | Saudi non-oil sector to remain above 7% in 2013
Saudi Arabia’s construction and manufacturing industries will grow at 10.5% and 8.5 %, respectively in 2013, a recent released bank report has claimed.
During 2012, the value of awarded construction contracts remained above the $53 billion threshold, registering $62 billion. This was short of the historical record of $72 billion in 2011. These figures have just been released by the National Commercial Bank ( NCB ) in its Saudi Economic Review for April.
The awarded contracts in the manufacturing sector reached $4.7 billion in 2012, the fourth largest share across all sectors. This was only surpassed by oil, transportation and power sectors.
Government contracts remain as a critical component, it signed approximately 3,117 capex-related contracts with the private sector. These were valued at $45 billion, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The bank said: “We are concerned about the recently released report by the Saudi Control and Investigation Board (SCIB) that detailed 650 projects facing delays and that will need to be financed from excess surpluses of previous budgets.”
Optimism levels in the construction sector were the highest among all sectors, with 50% of firms planning to invest in business expansion.
New mortgage laws have impacted sentiments positively and will continue to do so as SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency) finalises the regulations on real estate financing and leasing along with the supervisory guidelines.
