Prelude to the Best Sommelier of Canada Contest | SaltWireRIYADH - Wall Street's top financiers struck a pessimistic tone about the economy at a flagship gathering in Saudi Arabia aimed at deal brokering, as a violent conflict between Israel and Hamas that has killed thousands of people unfolds.
Although the globe's top financiers dwelt little on the conflict, speaking about topics such as artificial intelligence, the economic fallout of war combined with record debts as rates rise created a bleak backdrop. HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn also warned of the perils of heavy government debts."I’m concerned about a tipping point on fiscal deficits," he said."When it comes, it will come fast and I think there are a number of economies in the world where there could be a tipping point and it will hit hard."
Saudi Arabia is putting U.S.-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice, two sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking said, signalling a rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities as war rages between Israel and Hamas.The last year has seen Saudi Arabia spend billions on companies, from sports to gaming to aviation. This year, Saudi Telecom Corp took a near 10% stake in Spain's Telefonica.
"Over time, scale matters enormously in the competitive nature of global businesses and so M&A activity can ebb and flow and as people become more certain of the environment," he said. More than 5,000 people registered to attend this year's Future Investment Initiative and only a handful withdrew due to current events.
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