Al Rajhi Capital, a leading financial services provider in Saudi Arabia, has announced a collaboration with top ratings agency S&P Global to produce the "Al Rajhi Capital Saudi Construction Index", a new high-frequency indicator designed to track changes in business conditions across Saudi Arabia’s construction sector.

Developed and operated by the Market Intelligence division within S&P Global, this new Index is designed to serve as a macroeconomic indicator and is intended to provide businesses, investors and policymakers with a timely and standardised measure of current conditions across the sector. 

It will track changes in a range of operating indicators, including new orders, business activity, input costs, supplier delivery times and subcontractor availability. The release will also include selected segment-level indicators covering areas such as residential, non-residential and infrastructure activity.

The launch comes at a significant stage in Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation. The construction and real estate sectors are central to Vision 2030, given their importance to housing, infrastructure, urban development, private sector activity and employment. It is also particularly relevant at a time when Saudi Arabia is pursuing reforms intended to support a healthier balance between real estate supply and demand, increasing the value of timely and credible indicators that help in tracking changing conditions across the construction sector.

Hossam Albasrawi, the CEO of Al Rajhi Capital, said: "This collaboration reflects our commitment to play an active role in providing market insight and broadening the availability of timely and reliable research. As construction activity continues to expand across housing, infrastructure and large-scale development, the new indicator will provide market participants with a consistent tool to monitor changes in business conditions and better assess the direction of the sector."

Luke Thompson Managing Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "We are excited to be collaborating with Al Rajhi Capital to launch the first S&P Global-developed construction index in the Middle East. This comes at a critical time for the sector in Saudi Arabia and we believe the index will provide timely, accurate and high-frequency data to support decision making by industry participants, investors and policymakers."

"We expect that the Al Rajhi Capital Saudi Construction Index will be a valuable new source of insight for those tracking developments in the sector," he noted.

Al Rajhi Capital Saudi Construction Index is intended to serve as a regular measure of business conditions across Saudi Arabia’s construction sector, offering a timely and consistent view of changes in activity, costs and operating conditions, he added.-TradeArabia News Service