Saudi Arabia achieves several breakthroughs under Vision 2030, says Al-Jadaan

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Planning, said that the Kingdom started to achieve its Vision 2030 years ago, by preparing and overcoming several challenges such as COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis of oil prices.

Saudi Arabia managed to achieve great successes under Vision 2030, such as financial control, spending efficiency, and investment in infrastructure, especially the digital ones, as well as other sectors such as industry and other promising sectors that enabled the economy to overcome the crisis, Al-Jadaan said during the 2021 Budget Forum.

The minister also indicated that the government supported jobs as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and reacted rapidly to the crisis.

The decision to maintain jobs for locals in the private sector was taken within 48 hours, although similar decisions take a year to be issued, he noted.

He also indicated that decisions were taken to support the personal protective equipment (PPE) factories in their expansion. "We also seek to produce other products such as medicine."

Al-Jadaan stressed the importance of financial control and the ability to borrow, noting that the Kingdom managed to resort to the local market efficiently. “The debt is under control, and the Kingdom does not plan to increase its debt levels rapidly,” the minister said.

The debt levels are not worrying currently, especially as the Ministry of Finance is monitoring them continuously.

The Kingdom managed to work with the government entities to achieve flexibility in expenditures, the minister said, expecting 2021 to be the year of economic recovery.

Commenting on the privatization programs, Al-Jadaan said that some projects have been completed in few sectors with investments worth SAR 15 billion from the private sector, and such investments will likely exceed SAR 30 billion in 2021.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Saudi Arabia announced, on Dec. 15, its 2021 budget, with revenues estimated at SAR 849 billion. Expenditures are forecast to reach SAR 990 billion with a deficit of SAR 141 billion, or 4.9% of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP).