Saudi Finance Minister: State’s policies towards the pandemic achieved stability
Saudi Finance Minister Muhammad Al-Jadaan asserted that the realistic and responsible policies and measures are taken by the government in dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic have limited the humanitarian, financial, and economic repercussions, and put the country on the path of stability, according to a press release.
He explained that the public financial policies work to achieve a balance between the sustainability of public finances and the promotion of economic growth to support the economic and social transformation phase that the Kingdom is witnessing following Vision 2030.
He noted that the government launched a set of financial and economic reforms aimed at a comprehensive and total change of the economy, to bring about a developmental shift in the long term.
He pointed out that the Kingdom’s economy has begun to witness a gradual recovery since the middle of the year 2020, and more strongly during the current year, pointing to the high positive growth rates in the real non-oil sector, which reached 8.4% in the second quarter of this year, led by the private sector, which recorded a growth rate of 11.1%, as well as the growth of non-oil activities by 6.2%, for the third quarter of this year, which was reflected on the positive results of the performance of public finances.
He stated that the government is working, through the financial sustainability program, to reduce vulnerability to external factors, including fluctuations in oil markets, by adopting financial rules that achieve financial sustainability and sustainable development, which in turn is reflected in financial stability.
He indicated that these rules adopt new methodologies to determine spending ceilings in the medium term. It is also based on estimating structural oil revenues based on the average real historical revenues for a long period, as well as estimating non-oil revenues as a percentage of non-oil GDP to form spending ceilings.
