Aramco IPO changes the dynamics of Saudi Arabia’s economy

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The Saudi Stock Exchange, also known as the Tadawul All Share Index, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) will radically transform the way in which Saudi Arabia’s economy operates, according to the chief executive of the Saudi Stock Exchange.

So far, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul is the only confirmed listing exchange for state-owned energy giant, Saudi Aramco. The kingdom has estimated the much-anticipated listing of the world’s top oil company could be worth up to $2 trillion.

“The Saudi Stock Exchange is as excited as everybody else with the listing of Aramco,” Khalid Abdullah Al Hussan, CEO of the Saudi Stock Exchange, told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Riyadh on Wednesday.

“It is almost doubling the size of the Saudi market and that is definitely changing our position as far as size … (And) will change the dynamics of how the Saudi capital market — as well as the economy — operates,” he added.

Saudi Aramco is looking to become the world’s most valuable company when it lists a 5 percent stake in an IPO either later this year or in early 2019.

The “unique” listing is expected to dramatically change the face of the Tadawul exchange, with Saudi Aramco poised to dominate roughly one-third of the index. That could increase the likelihood of Saudi stocks moving in tandem with oil prices — despite the kingdom’s long-term goal to try to diversify its economy away from oil.