Saudi Arabia names former banker as sovereign debt office's head

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's National Debt Management Center, responsible for managing the kingdom's sovereign borrowing, named Hani AlMedaini its acting chief executive officer.

AlMedaini, former head of the investment division at Saudi British Bank, will succeed Fahad AlSaif, who joined the sovereign wealth fund to become chief of corporate finance and a member of its management committee. AlMedaini's appointment is effective on July 1, according to a statement Saturday.

AlMedaini, who was also previously a money-market and fixed-income dealer at Samba Financial Group, joined the debt office in September 2019 as head of portfolio management and became its acting deputy CEO last March.

Saudi Arabia set up the debt management office after oil prices collapsed in 2015 to tap foreign markets and plug a budget deficit caused by lower energy revenue.

Saudi Arabia's fiscal shortfall narrowed to the lowest level in two years in the first quarter. It was funded entirely by domestic and external borrowing, without withdrawing from reserves, according to the Finance Ministry.