Saudi non-oil growth to top 2.9pc this year
RIYADH, May 17, 2019
Saudi Arabia's non-oil sector growth will accelerate to 2.9 per cent in 2019, as the increasing government spending and reforms implementation will likely drive economic growth, said a Ministry of Finance statement.
Welcoming a statement released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that visited the kingdom this month to conduct the 2019 Article IV consultations, the ministry said economic reforms and the recovery in the non-oil sector contributed to improving the economic outcomes in 2018, said a Saudi Press Agency report.
Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance, said the IMF statement stresses Saudi government’s strong progress in implementing the economic and structural reforms, especially evidenced by the positive outcomes of the Q1 Budget Report 2019.
He also noted that the IMF statement reflects the key efforts made in developing Saudi Arabia's financial sector, which realises the strategic objectives of the 2030 Vision.
The statement indicated an improvement in the transparency of government spending and public finance.
The statement emphasised the continuation of reforms aimed at strengthening the country's development of general budgeting and a mid-term public finance framework. It referred to the Expenses Management System (Etimad) which contributed to improving and realising expenditure efficiency and public financial transparency.
The statement commended the advancement in financial market reforms which culminated in Saudi Arabia being listed on the global stock and bonds markets indices and the expansion of the government bonds yield curve towards longer-term maturities which will contribute in developing the financial sector and deepening the debt market of the private sector.
