WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia has adopted a series of measures to ensure continuity of economic growth, said Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf. “The most important among them is an investment program worth $400 billion in the public and oil sectors for the next five years,” he told a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The joint IMF-World Bank development committee was yesterday focusing on the aid to developing countries battered by the global financial crisis that is pushing millions more into poverty.
Al-Assaf said Saudi Arabia’s economic stimulus program was aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the economy and increasing the Kingdom’s oil production capacity. “We have also unveiled this year the largest fiscal budget in the Kingdom’s history, with the aim of increasing local demand and production. We have increased allocation for infrastructure projects by 36 percent compared to last year,” the minister added.
Al-Assaf said the Kingdom’s monetary policies were aimed at achieving financial stability, ensuring adequate liquidity and reducing the cost of lending. “Our banking sector is strong and safe and enjoys high profitability and solvency,” he said. The Kingdom’s economic performance in 2008 was strong despite global financial crisis and fall in oil prices.
The global economic crisis threatens to reverse gains in fighting poverty, so banks that provide billions in aid to poor nations must embrace reform in their operations, said US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Those development banks are at the forefront of efforts to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable growth, he told the meeting.
“We cannot afford to lose time or lose ground,” Geithner said.
“Now that we have achieved unprecedented agreement on the right strategy and the right set of tools,” to fix the global economy “we need to keep the pressure on to execute quickly and achieve a shared, lasting recovery,” he said.
— With input from agencies
