Saudi economy to recover driven by growth in non-oil sector in 2021, says official

The Saudi economy is expected to recover, driven by the growth in non-oil sector, represented in private sector in the fiscal year 2021, Saad Al-Shahrani, deputy minister for macro-fiscal policies at the Ministry of Finance, said.

The private sector constitutes the largest proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP) at 70% and a 3.5% or more growth is expected in the next four or five years, Al-Shahrani explained during a seminar, titled "Economic growth and financial sustainability in the post-pandemic period", organized by the Communication and Financial Knowledge Center (CFKC).

He indicated that the government's role is to intervene in times of crisis, as it has adopted the development of macro-financial policies that work to create financial sustainability in the medium- and long-term, adding that the focus on developing these policies has led to a dynamic Saudi economy.

The government’s estimated reserves by the end of 2020 stands at about SAR 346 billion, or 14% of the GDP, while the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) also has large reserves in foreign currencies, the minister added, indicating that the debt is still controlled and lower than most countries.

He also pointed out that there are many opportunities in the government’s plans to provide more projects to the private sector in promising sectors such as technology, information, tourism and entertainment, in order to have a leadership role.