A new barometer of business performance and forecasting will be introduced shortly in the Kingdom under a partnership agreement entered into between the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia and Dun & Bradstreet South Asia Middle East Ltd (D&B) - the world's premier financial data and business information provider. The Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Business Optimism Index for Saudi Arabia, as appropriately named, is a measure of business confidence in an economy. Released quarterly, it is based on a business sentiment survey that is designed to capture business expectations and is one of the most effective ways to track how the business community perceives the business environment, and where they think it is moving. The first index on Saudi Arabia will be released in mid-January 2009 and will provide an outlook for Q1 2009. Through tracking business parameters include volume of sales, net profits, selling prices, new orders, level of stock and new employees. The Dun and Bradstreet Business Optimism Indexes are commonly used to assist in analyzing major trends and issues concerning the business community. Over time, Dun and Bradstreet South Asia and Middle East Business Optimism Index develops into a leading indicator of business activity, and thus assists the business and investment community, and also policy makers, in gauging short-term economic outlook and strategic planning. NCB Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Dr. Said Al-Shaikh said “at National Commercial Bank we recognize the importance of business research. Our partnership with D&B to launch a Business Optimism Index for the Kingdom is an important step aiming to provide policy makers with an indicator to measure the business and investment climate. The Optimism Index will be a key reference for businesses as they anticipate developments and facilitate short and long term decision-making and business planning.” Rajesh Mirchandani, CEO of Dun and Bradstreet South Asia and Middle East Ltd., added: “Developing and maintaining investor interest is influenced to a large degree by the availability of up-to-date economic information. The Dun and Bradstreet South Asia and Middle East Business Optimism Index has been designed to serve this requirement by capturing the sentiment of the business community about Saudi Arabia's business environment and making it available on a quarterly basis.” He further said “Dun & Bradstreet is a firm believer in the power of partnerships, and we are pleased to have National Commercial Bank on board for this initiative. As the most established bank in Saudi, National Commercial Bank is an integral part of Saudi Arabia's economy. Today, in light of the current global economic situation the need for information on the Saudi economy is becoming even more imperative and we know that National Commercial Bank's involvement with the Dun and Bradstreet South Asia and Middle East Business Optimism Index will contribute to the development of a strong and reliable business indicator for the Saudi Economy.” Meanwhile, the Saudi stock Tadawul All Share Index dropped 0.25 percent on Monday's closing to 5,152.54.61 pulled down by losses of the seven sectoral indices. The values of Cement, Media & Publishing, Banks & Financial Services, and Real Estate Development recorded shed 1.33, 1.15, 0.56, and 0.52 percent, respectively. __
