Despite the cumulative impact of the global economic
crisis over the past years the Kingdom's nonoil sector grew by 3.8 percent in
2009. The growth was however less than (4.3 percent) that of 2008.
The government spent a record SR596.4 billion ($159.04
billion) in 2009.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah commended
the country's economic performance in 2009 but stressed the need for greater
efforts. He made this comment while receiving the 46th annual report from
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf Saturday evening.
"Brothers, we expect the good from you. God willing,
the coming days will be the days of blessings and prosperity for your homeland
and people. Praise be to Allah Almighty for stability, calmness and
tranquility. In spite of this, we are not satisfied with all what we have done
until now. God willing, this heralds a better future," the king said
commenting on the report.
The balance of payments continued to post surplus for the
11th consecutive year despite the fact that global production and services
shrank by 0.6 percent.
The report also stressed the need for greater efforts for
job creation and investment in the human resources development in order to end
unemployment among Saudis, which reached 9.6 percent in 2009.
The SAMA report also noted the significant fall in
domestic inflation, which is linked to general cost of living index, which
dropped to 5.1 percent in 2009, compared to 9.9 percent in 2008.
An IMF report issued in August praised SAMA's prudent
banking regulations. The IMF report had made a positive assessment of the
nonoil economy, supported both by the aggressive stimulus measures and the
success of the authorities in pursuing credible and sustainable regulatory
standards.
The SAMA report, however, stressed the need for providing
low-cost housing units to people having low-income. In order to make the
housing cheaper, the country needed favorable financing and mortgage
regulations.
The monetary and banking sector also played an effective
role in strengthening the results by securing adequate liquidity for financing
economic activities, the report noted. The 10.7 percent in 2009 cash flow was
linked with the expansion of services offered by local commercial banks.
The report said the Saudi economy was prepared to deal
with the global financial crisis because of its past accomplishments of
establishing sound control, organizational measures and judicious financial
polices. It also lauded measures such as increase in spending and wise
administration of monetary policies.
