Saudi Arabia’s economy will continue to grow: Al-Tuwaijri

Saudi Arabia’s economy will continue to grow and is becoming less reliant on oil revenue, Minister of Economy and Planning, Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri said on Thursday.

“We moved from negative growth to positive growth in 2018 and are continuing to grow. We were less dependent on oil in Q1 2019 compared to Q4 2018,” he told a panel discussion at the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh.

Earlier this year, the World Bank said it expects the Saudi economy to grow by 2.1 percent during 2019 and rise by 2.2 percent within the coming two years.

The minister said progress is being witnessed as the Vision 2030 plan is being executed, which focuses on diversification and privatization.

“Every day there is progress. We are announcing new rules, regulations, projects and reforms. And this is how we can weather the possible global slowdown,” Al-Tuwaijri added.

Write to Parag Deulgaonkar at parag.d@argaamplus.com