Media ININ Economy We Trust
Media IN Riyadh 21st-07-2019
IMF expects Saudi Arabia’s real non-oil growth to strengthen to 2.9 per cent in 2019 as government spending and confidence increase, but real GDP growth is projected to slow to 1.9 per cent as real oil growth slows to 0.7 per cent with the implementation of the OPEC+ agreement.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has encouraged the Saudi authorities to build on their fiscal reforms, including the continuation of the planned energy and water price reforms as well as increases in expatriate labour fees.
The Washington-based fund stated that continued commitment to prudent macroeconomic policies and appropriate prioritisation of reforms will be key to promoting non-oil growth, creating jobs for nationals and achieving the objectives of Vision 2030 agenda.
Additionally, the IMF projected the fiscal deficit to widen to 6.5 per cent of GDP in 2019 from 5.9 per cent in 2018 as the fund expects government spending to exceed the budgeted amount and offset an increase in non-oil revenues.
