RIYADH: Saudis have increased their spending on utilities and jewelry during the first week of December, while food and beverage sales showed a slight decline, according to the latest data from the Saudi Central Bank. 

In the week from Dec. 1 to 7, spending on public utilities rose by 11.5 percent to SR63.32 million ($16.85 million), driven by higher demand for essential services. The sector also saw a rise in transactions, which climbed 4.9 percent to SR803,000. 

Data from the weekly point-of-sale reports showed that jewelry sales recorded the second-largest growth, rising 8.2 percent to SR288.13 million, followed by an uptick in spending on construction materials, which grew by 4.4 percent to SR382 million. 

Total POS transactions in the Kingdom reached SR14.22 billion, a 0.7 percent decrease from the previous week. 

This comes as spending on food and beverages experienced a modest decline. Expenditures fell by 0.8 percent to SR2.20 billion, still maintaining the largest share of total POS value. Restaurant and cafe spending also dipped by 1.4 percent to SR1.97 billion, representing the second-largest category by value. 

Certain sectors saw positive growth, such as electronics, which rose by 2.1 percent to SR221.30 million, and miscellaneous goods and services, which jumped by 3.5 percent to SR1.76 billion. 

Telecommunications spending declined by 3.1 percent, amounting to SR138.84 million. Health sector spending remained relatively flat with a 0.6 percent increase, reaching SR867.53 million. Furniture expenditures grew by 1.5 percent to SR348.52 million, marking the second-smallest increase. 

Riyadh accounted for the largest share of POS transactions, making up 34.7 percent of the total with SR4.94 billion in spending, though this was down 1.1 percent compared to the previous week. 

Jeddah saw a 3.1 percent increase, reaching SR1.92 billion, while Dammam recorded a slight decline of 0.1 percent to SR719.3 million. 

Among smaller cities, Tabuk saw the steepest drop in spending, down 5.1 percent to SR281 million, followed by Hail and Abha, which declined by 2.9 percent to SR234.71 million and 1.3 percent to SR166.55 million, respectively. 

In terms of transaction volumes, Makkah and Jeddah experienced the most significant increases, with transaction numbers up 3.8 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. Makkah recorded 8.97 million transactions, while Jeddah saw 26.31 million. 

Hail and Tabuk reported the largest decreases, with transactions falling by 1.5 percent 3.93 million and 1.1 percent 4.82 million, respectively. 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is playing a crucial role in guiding the Arab world to a path of sustainable development, with the Kingdom spearheading the green transition journey in the region, a top official said. 

Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the UN’s COP16 in Riyadh, Merza Hasan, the special adviser to the chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, said that water scarcity is one of the most critical problems nations will face due to adverse effects of climate change. 

“The Arab Fund was created by 22 Arab countries. The biggest two shareholders are Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. And Saudi, the way they look at the development now, they want to pass all this experience and the vision and whatever they learn, the different sectors which they are investing in, to scale it up to other countries, and especially with the Arab countries,” said Hasan. 

He added: “I think what is happening now in Saudi Arabia, it is the biggest laboratory of development and development ideas.” 

Hasan said the Kingdom should exchange its expertise in various sectors like water, electricity, and tourism, as well as infrastructure and job creation, with neighboring Arab nations. 

Through the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives, the Kingdom has spearheaded the sustainable revolution in the wider region over the past few years. 

The fourth edition of SGI, organized on the sidelines of COP16, also launched five new groundbreaking environmental projects, valued at SR225 million ($60 million).

These marked a significant step forward in Saudi Arabia’s ambitious environmental strategy, bringing the total investment in SGI initiatives to over $188 billion.

Hasan added that the Arab Fund, in the future, will be investing more to ensure water security in its member nations. 

“Water is linked to many things; livelihood, prosperity, food security and manufacturing. The Arab Fund, in the coming years, is going to put a lot of resources into the water sector and addressing water challenges in the Arab region,” said Hasan. 

He added: “It (water crisis) is huge, it is big. The way I can describe it, we are now in crisis. If we do not do anything and if we do not act fast, we are going to be in catastrophe.”

During the talk, Hasan revealed that the Arab Fund is giving prime preference to the green economy, and the future projects initiated by the organization will be completely sustainable. 

During COP16, the Arab Coordination Group committed up to $10 billion by 2030 to address the critical challenges of land degradation, desertification, and drought.

“We are going to improve our knowledge when it comes to anything related to the environment, water, and the agricultural sector, and we want to inject green into that knowledge. We are not rich in our data, we are extremely poor when it comes to the data related to many things that are related to the environment,” said Hasan.

He also revealed that the fund is currently creating an Arab Development Data portal, where Saudi Arabia is also playing a pivotal role. 

“We are working with all the statistical units to improve the capacity when it comes to the data and data related to the environment and green economy. We are also linking it to the many of these intellectual reports which are available, which nobody tapped into,” added Hasan. 

He said that the fund is also using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to collect and leverage data to ensure a sustainable future.