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To: MythMan who wrote (322226)	5/23/2006 9:04:30 AM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

saudi is building a PPT. their mkt will soon be riskfree just like ours King acts to calm Saudi investors By William Wallis in Cairo Published: May 16 2006 20:39 \| Last updated: May 16 2006 20:39 crown prince abdullahKing Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promised to create a risk-free investment fund for ordinary Saudis on Tuesday as the Gulf kingdom’s collapsing stock market experienced another sharp fall. ADVERTISEMENT The Tadawul All-Shares index was down 9.7 per cent by Tuesday afternoon, exacerbating a collapse that has ruined tens of thousands of Saudi investors, who had been encouraged by the authorities to ride the stock markets as a means of spreading wealth generated by the oil boom. Saudi stocks have lost half their value, or about $400bn, since peaking in February, when frenzied speculation drove the market’s value to the equivalent of more than 200 per cent of gross domestic product. In his latest effort to revive the market and appease an angry public, King Abdullah said the state would shoulder any losses from a new fund aimed at small investors with a maximum of SR500,000 ($133,000) to invest. “The fund will be for people with limited income, employees and others. This group matters most to me. Businessmen or the so-called big fish can win or lose as they please,” Saudi state media quoted him as saying. Separately, EFG-Hermes of Egypt on Tuesday became one of the first regional investment banks to win a licence to operate in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi licence is a significant landmark for the Egyptian firm, which has been expanding aggressively in the region, since building up its business during the stock market boom in Cairo in the mid-1990s. Hassan Heikal, EFG’s co-chairman and chief executive, said the timing of EFG’s entry into the Saudi market was perfect.