In the presence of senior executives from Saudi companies and international financial institutions, Finance Minister Mohammed Abdullah Al-Jadaan explained the impacts and objectives of the macroeconomic policy pursued by the Kingdom, noting its pivotal role in achieving Vision 2030, in light of a number of comprehensive reform measures implemented in the Kingdom aimed at modernizing and diversifying the economy to reduce dependence on oil.
Boosting purchasing power and activating the “Citizen Account”
During his speech at the Saudi Investment Forum held recently in New York, Al-Jadaan expressed optimism regarding these economic reforms, emphasizing that they do not represent austerity but rather a focus on increasing spending efficiency, and supporting the purchasing power of low- and middle-income citizens through the «Citizen Account»; to help them cope with energy price adjustments, as well as supporting the private sector to achieve the Vision 2030 targets, with the private sector’s contribution to GDP reaching 65 percent. He emphasized that government spending priorities will focus on these key areas.
He added, «We will increase the depth and breadth of our capital markets, move forward with the privatization program, and continue to encourage the growth of private businesses, These are ambitious but achievable goals that create many excellent opportunities for investment and partnership with us to build a modern, diversified, and resilient Saudi economy.
Vision 2030 Unveils Foreign Investment Opportunities
The Minister of Finance explained that the broad outlines of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 have taken shape, enabling the Kingdom to make remarkable progress in a number of areas and revealing the enormous opportunities available for foreign investment, noting that the Kingdom is in the midst of an unprecedented economic transformation and that its Vision serves as a very clear roadmap for where it aims to go and how to achieve these goals, while emphasizing that significant progress has already been made.
Regarding economic reforms in the Kingdom, Al-Jadaan said: We are currently witnessing wide-ranging reforms, ranging from energy price adjustments to a focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, preparing government-owned companies for privatization, and public-private partnerships; and the transformation of the Public Investment Fund into one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.
Reaping the Benefits of Economic Reforms
He emphasized that the Kingdom’s economic community has begun to reap the benefits of these reforms through a more stable business environment and greater investor confidence, as evidenced by the successful issuance of international and domestic debt securities in the Kingdom, with the initial international offering of dollar-denominated sukuk taking place in April; this attracted significant interest from international investors, with subscription requests exceeding $33 billion.
He explained that this $9 billion issuance is the largest sukuk offering in the world, noting the significant progress achieved by the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Plan toward the Kingdom’s stated goal, which is to achieve a balanced budget through fiscal reform. In the first half of this year, revenues rose by 29 percent, while spending fell by 2 percent, leading to a significant reduction in the deficit.
