Media ININ Economy We Trust
MEDIA IN, Riyadh, May 2, 2018 (WAM)
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jad’an predicted a decrease in the current year’s budget deficit from 2018 to 7 percent of GDP.
Pointing out that the Kingdom was able within two years between 2015 and 2017 to reduce the deficit by 40 per cent to 9 per cent of GDP by the end of 2017.
In his speech at the opening of the 2018 Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference, the Minister of Finance affirmed that the Kingdom enjoys great economic weight at the regional and international levels and has huge and promising investment opportunities and is the focus of attention and follow-up by major companies, investors and financial institutions.
He said that the world is witnessing promising progress for positive growth rates in developed countries and emerging markets, which promotes optimism for better economic growth in the Kingdom, despite some risks on some international markets as well as large and rapid changes in the oil market. On the global economy.
He added that the Ministry of Finance has managed through the Office of Public Debt Management to refinance the syndicated loan volume and the extraordinary demand from financial institutions as well as the issuance of international bonds worth $ 11 billion in a record period where the total orders more than $ 52 billion and succeeded in the listing and circulation of debt instruments issued Has announced 45 Saudi riyals worth SAR 204 billion in the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), contributing to the deepening of the sukuk and bond market, which in turn will help increase liquidity in the secondary market.
On the efficiency of spending, Al-Jadaan pointed out that the Saudi government achieved through the Office of rationalization of capital and operational expenditure savings estimated at 12 billion riyals for the first quarter of this year, bringing the total cumulative savings to 68 billion riyals, while continuing the work of the citizen account for families due to address the negative effects that may result from Financial reforms, with 32 billion riyals allocated in this year’s budget for this purpose, as well as disbursement to the private sector of previously announced stimulus packages of up to 200 billion riyals by 2020
