Saudi Arabia’s robust economic growth reflects strength of financial policies, says Al-Jadaan

Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan

The 92nd National Day anniversary coincides with the Kingdom’s increasing economic growth, which reflects the strength of its financial policies and ability to overcome challenges, such as COVID-19 and geopolitical crises, said Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan.

On the occasion of celebrating the 92nd National Day, the minister stressed the importance of these policies to enhance growth and economic stability, as well as achieve public financial sustainability for the Kingdom.

He added that the country managed to enhance its position regionally and globally, thanks to the continuous reforms and development in various fields, to achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

Al-Jadaan touched on the financial and economic achievements in 2022, confirming that Vision 2030 programs had a prominent role in such breakthroughs. He also pointed to the positive results achieved by the Financial Sector Development, Financial Sustainability and Privatization programs.

The initiatives launched under the Financial Sustainability Program contributed to the implementation of several structural reforms during the transformation phase that aims to continue financing development in various fields, boosting growth and employment rates, as well as diversifying the economic base. This phase also aims to develop public services and infrastructure, while maintaining financial sustainability to achieve financial and economic stability in the medium and long term. This was reflected in Fitch’s credit rating for the Kingdom at "A", and revising its outlook from "Stable" to "Positive".

These initiatives also succeeded in bringing about a qualitative leap in the management of the state's public finance, through adopting policies that ensure sustainability, raise financial and economic planning capabilities in the medium term, and enhance financial discipline.

The Financial Sustainability Program helped maintain government support and social protection, through redirecting support to those who deserve it through the Citizen's Account Program.

The minister pointed to the Kingdom’s continued efforts to enhance transparency and financial disclosure, which was highlighted by the budget-related reports over the past years. This, accordingly, led to improving the rates of investment, consumption and exports. In addition, the program contributed to developing and launching financial systems and reforms, as well as improving electronic services, through the launch of “Etimad" platform that facilitated financial transactions with the private sector. The number of private-sector entities registered on the platform until the end of August 2022 reached more than 81,000, and a total of 1.53 million payment orders were completed.

Touching on the Financial Sector Development Program, Al-Jadaan said it succeeded in raising the number of Fintech companies to more than 120 year to date. In addition, the program aims to increase the banking sector’s total assets to over SAR 4.5 trillion by 2030, compared to SAR 3.5 trillion in Q2 2022.

The financial technology strategy was adopted. The program also continued to support the private sector’s growth, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), through the launch of indirect lending initiative, bringing the total number of beneficiary enterprises to 2,212.

Moreover, the program contributed to the growth of venture capital by 244%, and the program's initiatives helped the Kingdom secure a leading position in the global competitiveness indicators.

With regard to the Privatization Program, it contributed to strengthening the public-private sector partnership, as well as setting the general frameworks for the privatization system through the issuance of the privatization law and establishment of the National Center for Privatization.