The capital expenditure for the upcoming projects in Saudi Arabia is poised to hit SR269.7 billion ($71.6 billion) in 2013, registering a modest two per cent increase over SR264 billion last year, said a report.

The government’s projected expenditures for 2013 reveal that heavy capital spending will remain as status quo, reported the Saudi Gazette, citing the National Commercial Bank’s Construction Contracts Index (CCI).

It noted that the government’s intent to continue to spend heavily in the education, health, municipality, transportation and water sectors will allow for further growth of these sectors in 2013 compared to 2012. These sectors witnessed a significant increase in expenditures in 2012 to reach SR60 billion.

The Saudi construction sector will witness a sustained robust growth this year. 2012 provided the Saudi economy with a continued solid, sustainable outlook of the construction sector. The sheer volume of awarded contracts indicate that 2013 will extend the familiar trend of significant, ongoing construction projects in their execution phase, of which the majority that were awarded in 2012 have already been initiated< the report added.

Some of the anticipated capital expenditures for 2013 include the construction of 539 new schools, 19 new hospitals and the development of 3,700 km for new roads across the Kingdom.

The SR235.1 billion in contracts awards during 2012 reflected the construction industry’s continued vibrancy and its foundation as a fundamental building block of the Kingdom’s economy, said the report.

The total value of awarded contracts during H2’12 reached SR108.3 billion versus H1’12, which accumulated to SR126.7 billion, the report added.