RIYADH, 9 July — The Shoura Council has urged the Planning Minister to coordinate with the Finance and National Economy Ministry to evolve a plan for putting an end to budget deficits and cutting short public debts to acceptable levels.
The Shoura meeting, which was chaired by its President Saleh ibn Abdullah Humaid, also approved a study on the suitability of separating economy from the Finance Ministry and merge it with the Planning Ministry, Secretary-General Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr said.
The 120-member consultative body proposed another study on making the General Statistics Department as an independent organization without being attached to any executive agencies. "This is to give the department wide scope for work in line with modern requirements," the secretary-general said.
The Shoura called upon the Planning Ministry to publish the results of its studies and research regularly, including those related to economic indicators. The meeting made these proposals after a discussing a report on the Planning Ministry’s annual performance.
The Shoura meeting supported King Abdul Aziz Foundation’s efforts to collect documents related to the Kingdom’s history from various sources within and outside the country.
The meeting heard a report presented by Abdul Mohsen Al-Akkas, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, on the Foreign Ministry’s performance.
