Saudi GDP grows 1.6 pct y/y in Q2
Govt expects to boost state spending 7 pct next year
RIYADH, Sept 30, (RTRS): Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, grew 1.6 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter of this year, the official statistics agency said on Sunday
Saudi Arabia’s government aims to increase spending by over 7 percent next year in an effort to boost sluggish economic growth, while continuing to cut its budget deficit gradually, finance ministry figures released on Sunday showed.
The ministry forecast state spending would climb to 1.106 trillion riyals ($295 billion) in 2019 from its latest estimate for 2018 of 1.030 trillion riyals.
But it also projected a jump in revenues to 978 billion riyals, up 11 percent from 2018. That would leave a deficit of 128 billion riyals or 4.1 percent of gross domestic product next year, compared to 148 billion riyals and 5.0 percent this year.
Finance Minister Mohammed alJadaan said spending in 2019 would focus on growth and creating jobs. The government will soon announce policies to support the private sector in areas such as industry and tourism, he said without elaborating.
But Riyadh will also press ahead with a drive to eliminate the deficit entirely, he told a briefing on the 2019 budget ahead of its expected release in December.The budget “is yet another step in cutting deficits gradually in the medium term, until we rebalance the budget entirely by 2023,” Jadaan said.
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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest importer of feed barley, will restore a private sector role in the trade after two years during which it was handled solely by the state, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdel Rahman Al-Fadli was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia used to import its feed barley through the private sector but since 2016 the responsibility for imports has been held by the state grain buyer, the Saudi Grains Organisation (SAGO).
The kingdom has become a major importer of wheat and barley since plans to become self-sufficient were abandoned in 2008 because farming in the desert was draining scarce water supplies.