‎“Moody’s”: Saudi government is making progress in its ‎comprehensive reform programs

The National Debt Management Center reported from Moody’s today that the Saudi government is making progress in implementing its comprehensive reform programs, and these reforms will support the sustainability of economic diversification efforts in the medium and long term. The agency expected the Saudi economy to grow at an average rate of 3.2% during the period 2023-2026, with the non-point sector contributing an average of 3.5% of economic growth in the same period. It also expected that growth in the oil sector would be strong in the coming years, driven by the implementation of projects, supportive oil prices, and the potential increase in the private sector. The agency praised the efficiency of the Kingdom’s monetary, macroeconomic, and financial policy, and the organization of the banking sector, and considered this supportive of the Kingdom’s credit rating. ‎

In addition, data on the website of the National Debt Management Center indicate that the ratio of public debt in the Kingdom to GDP reached 24% in the third quarter of this year, as public debt during the quarter reached 994.3 billion riyals.

A few days ago, the International Monetary Fund raised its estimates of the growth of the Saudi economy to 4% during 2024, and preliminary estimates for the year 2024 from the Ministry of Finance indicate real GDP growth of 4.4%, supported by the growth of the domestic product of non-oil activities with the expectation that the private sector will continue in leading economic growth.

The Fund also expected the global economy to grow by 3% this year and 2.9% next year, global inflation to decline to 6.9% this year and 5.8% in 2024, in addition to the growth of the economy of the Middle East and Central Asia region by 2.5% in 2023 and 3.2% in 2024.