RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, FinanceIbrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, said that the Kingdom is giving priority to investment programs in the field of infrastructure, education, health and social services in order to achieve sustainable economic growth that is capable of providing jobs.
Al-Assaf, who headed the Kingdom’s delegation in the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington recently, said the Kingdom’s economy is still thriving with good support from public investment and high performance of the private sector.
Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Dr. Fahd Abdullah Al-Mubarak, among others, was also in the delegation.
In a speech he delivered before the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee, Dr. Al-Assaf focused on the economic situation in the Kingdom, the situation of the world economy and some subjects related to the IMF.
He said the Kingdom is capable of weathering the fluctuations in oil prices and still save enough so as to reduce the public debt from the GDP that reached 1.6 percent at the end of last year.
In this connection, he said the international rating institutions have confirmed the solidness and stability of the Saudi economy.
Al-Assaf said the banking sector is still maintaining good rates of liquidity, profitability and capital. He added the recent reforms to strengthen organizing the financial sector will help in supporting sustainable economic development and providing financing for small and medium enterprises.
During the meeting, Al-Assaf reviewed the Kingdom’s role in contributing to global economic growth through a number of fields including developing the local economy.
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