Dar Al-Arkan and Emaar Economic City have separately sent releases to Tadawul, confirming that they are in talks with the Saudi government for cooperation on housing projects, in line with the initiative of the Housing Ministry under the Kingdom’s economic reform plan. The Ministry of Housing had announced plans to spend a total of SAR59.2bn over the coming five years, in an attempt to ease the shortage of affordable housing through a number of schemes, including a loan guarantees programme and faster licencing procedures. (Company disclosure, Reuters)