RIYADH:聽海角直播鈥檚 central bank is monitoring banking indicators on a daily basis and is not seeing any impact on liquidity from oil giant Saudi Aramco鈥檚 initial public offering (IPO), its governor said on Sunday.
海角直播n Monetary Authority (SAMA) Gov. Ahmed Al-Kholifey told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference that he had no concerns about liquidity due to the size of Aramco鈥檚 IPO.
鈥淲e are monitoring all indicators on a daily basis and if there is any squeeze on liquidity, definitely we鈥檒l be injecting liquidity but so far ... everything is assuring,鈥 he said.
Aramco plans to sell 1.5 percent of the company, giving it a potential market value of as much as $1.7 trillion in a deal that is the centerpiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman鈥檚 plans to diversify the oil-dependent economy.
The IPO, which aims to raise as much as $25.6 billion in proceeds, has attracted approximately SR73 billion ($19.5 billion) in institutional and retail orders so far, 海角直播鈥檚 Samba Financial Group said on Thursday.
Saudi banks are marketing loans, with some offering four times the usual limits, two financial sources told Reuters earlier this month, adding they were able to do so as they will hold the stock on behalf of clients so have it as security.
鈥淭he Saudi banking sector enjoys very high levels of liquidity compared to Basel requirements,鈥 Al-Kholifey earlier told the conference, referring to international banking rules.聽
Impact on stock index
Aramco鈥檚 weighting in 海角直播鈥檚 main stock index once the oil giant has listed shares is not expected to breach the maximum limit set by the Kingdom鈥檚 Tadawul exchange, a senior executive said on Sunday.
鈥淭here is a ceiling for the maximum weight any listed company on the Saudi index can reach, it will be around 15 percent. It is unlikely that Aramco鈥檚 weight will reach the maximum level,鈥 Argaam financial website quoted Tadawul Chief Executive Khalid Al-Hussan, as saying.
Hosting possibly the biggest IPO in history will be a huge leap for Tadawul for the 12-year-old exchange that only admitted foreign investors four years ago.
Hussan, who was speaking at a meeting with businessmen at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, said Aramco鈥檚 listing will help the Middle East鈥檚 largest bourse become one of the world鈥檚 top 10 biggest stock exchanges in terms of market value.
