SAMA Governor says recent reforms reshaped Saudi Economy
Dr Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank SAMA, stated that the Saudi economy had undergone numerous reforms. Those have contributed to changing the economy’s structure, diversifying it, and maximising the Kingdom’s comparative advantages, whether in terms of natural resources, geographical location, human capabilities, infrastructure, and technology.
The governor went on to say that these reforms helped to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the Saudi economy, citing how the Saudi Central Bank’s initiatives helped to lessen the impact on the private sector in general and small and medium businesses in particular.
Dr Fahd bin Abdullah Al Mubarak confirmed that the Saudi Central Bank had taken several measures. It launched a set of programmes to support micro, small, and medium enterprises affected by the preventive measures taken to combat the pandemic last year and promote economic growth.
Al-Mubarak predicted that the recovery would accelerate with the expansion of immunisation against the Covid-19 virus and the relaxation of prudent measures in the Kingdom and elsewhere, which would boost global oil demand and facilitate travel and tourism and other activities.
“The Saudi economy had seen a great improvement when the Corona pandemic problem passed, particularly after the opening of economic operations, supported by the rise of the non-oil sector in general, and the private sector in particular,” Al-Mubarak stated.
SAMA recent initiatives
SAMA makes efforts to implement the initiatives of the Financial Sector Development Program. It aims to build an advanced and effective financial sector to support the growth of the national economy and stimulate savings, financing, and investment through the development and deepening of financial institutions were also detailed in the report.
The Central Bank completed 12 of the 16 initiatives held by SAMA out of 41 Financial Sector Development Program projects in less than a year.
