Prince Mohammed says 2019 budget will support economic stability

Saudi Arabia’s state public budget for fiscal year 2019 ‘continues to improve the efficiency of public fiscal management, and promote economic stability and financial sustainability,’ the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said.

In a press statement following the announcement of the budget, Prince Mohammed affirmed that economic and structural reforms in the national economy are progressing steadily towards achieving the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the Center for International Communication said.

The Crown Prince pointed out that financial stability is a fundamental pillar of economic progress and growth.

Read: King Salman approves Saudi Arabia’s largest budget in history

He added the economic reforms and initiatives implemented over the past two years have directly contributed to reducing budget deficit rates in 2016, 2017 and 2018 by 12.8 percent, 9.3 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, while increasing the volume of spending annually.

He stressed the effectiveness of these reforms and initiatives through their clear impact on raising the indicators of the national economy’s growth during the past period. 

Read: Saudi 2019 budget deficit expected at SAR 131 bln

He pointed out that according to the pubic budget statement, real GDP growth for 2019 is expected to reach 2.6 percent, compared with 0.9 percent and 2.3 percent in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

He said that the positive financial results reflected in the budget indicators are part of pursuing financial sustainability in the medium term, according to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The Crown Prince said the government is going ahead in diversifying revenue sources and enhancing financial sustainability through increasing non-oil revenue, which rose from SAR 127 billion in 2014 to SAR 287 billion in 2018, and is expected, according to the public budget statement, to reach SAR 313 billion in 2019.